The Mythical Heroes Series - Book 1: The Life of Saralyn
by SNOzzie6
Summary: This story is about a girl named Saralyn Matthews who meets Danny and other friends, and they all get sucked into what is only the beginning of the danger and adventure that they will encounter. This is the first story in a series that I have written called "The Mythical Heroes". Rated T for violence (mostly at the end). I do not own Danny Phantom, but I do own my OCs.
1. Chapter 1: part 1

Chapter 1: part 1

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

I sighed in disappointment as my sister, Carmen, and I looked up at a house across the street from where we stood. The house of my Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Carl. Don't get me wrong, I love my aunt and uncle... but they have a bit of an obsession. What's the obsession, you may ask? Two words: ghost hunting. Uncle Carl has been crazy about ghosts ever since he learned how to walk and talk. Aunt Rebecca is a little more on the normal side, but I can tell that my uncle's craziness is rubbing off on her.

"Can't we stay at a hotel or something? Mom and Dad will never know!" I said.

"No way." Carmen said. "I know that you think that Aunt Becca and Uncle Carl are weird..."

"YOU think that too!"

"Anyways... Mom and Dad said that staying with our aunt and uncle will help us 'bond' and 'find things in common' and 'get along with each other' or something." I groaned.

I guess in the midst of my complaining, I'll introduce myself. My name is Saralyn Matthews, but my friends call me Sara. The only people who call me Saralyn are teachers and my parents when they're angry. I live in a town called Timberwoods, which is in Montana, with my parents and my sister, Carmen. The reason Carmen and I are staying with my aunt and uncle is my parents are currently cruising through the Bahamas. I BEGGED my parents to take me with them, but they wouldn't budge whatsoever, so I'm stuck here.

Carmen and I looked at each other nervously. We slowly started walking across the street. All of a sudden, a boy zoomed down the streets, crashing into me. I cried out and fell to the ground.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" the boy said, helping me up.

"It's all right." I said. "Just some internal bleeding, that's all."

The boy smiled. "I haven't seen you around before." he said. "I'm Danny Fenton."

"I'm Saralyn. You can call me Sara. This is my sister, Carmen." I said. "I've heard of your parents. Aren't they ghost hunters?" Danny nodded.

"Great. More crazy ghost fans..." Carmen mumbled.

"DANNY!" a voice cried.

We turned around. Two people, a goth girl dressed in purple and black and a nerd with technology falling out of his pockets, were running towards us.

"What is it, guys?" Danny asked.

"There's a g-!" the goth girl said. She saw Carmen and me and stopped.

"Uh..." the geek said. He leaned over and whispered something in Danny's ear. Danny's eyes widened.

"I got to go." he said, turning to me. "Welcome to Amity Park. I bet we'll see a lot of each other in the future. Come on, guys... Tucker?"

But Tucker wasn't paying attention to Danny. He was too busy staring at me.

"Hey, there. I'm Tucker Foley. That's T.F. as in too fine!" he said.

"Uh...?" I said. The girl came up and grabbed Tucker's ear.

"OW! OW! OW!" Tucker said. She dragged him away. "CALL ME!"

Carmen and I waited until they were out of sight before we doubled over in laughter. We walked up to the house and knocked on the door. Uncle Carl opened the door. He is a tall, rather chunky man with blonde hair and brown eyes that were always crinkled into a smile. He wore a checkered t-shirt and trousers.

"Carmen! Sara!" Uncle Carl cried, giving both of us a big hug.

"Hi, Uncle Carl." Carmen said. "Going golfing again?"

Uncle Carl nodded and smiled. "Auntie Becca is in the kitchen, making dinner." he said. "If you go upstairs, the 2nd and 3rd doors on the left are your rooms. The bathroom is on the right."

Carmen and I nodded and raced upstairs. I set my stuff down on my bed, which was nicely made with big, white pillows and a large chevron blanket with gray, white, yellow, and light blue zig-zag stripes. Up against the wall was a big white vanity with three drawers on each side and a mirror placed in the center. Next to it was another mirror, but this one was full-length. There was a small bookshelf hanging on the wall with some books already stocked inside. The walls were a lilac color, with pictures of myself and my family from past years.

Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Carl were definitely expecting us. I walked over to the bookshelf and scanned the books. Carmen came down the hallway and leaned against the door frame.

"Hey, that Danny guy is kind of cute, huh?" she said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"What?" I said, slamming a book shut. "Get real, Carmen. Don't you have anything better to do than play Matchmaker for your 14-year-old sister?"

"Hey, you're almost 15. You're practically grown up!"

Carmen giggled and I rolled my eyes.


	2. Chapter 1: Part 2

Chapter 1: part 2

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

After several long hours, Carmen and I finally finished unpacking, and just in time for dinner. We went downstairs to the dining room, where Aunt Rebecca was setting up the table. Aunt Rebecca is quite opposite to Uncle Carl when it comes to appearance. She has wavy brown hair and blue eyes that always have a sparkle in them. Today, she wore a salmon-colored t-shirt and blue jeans and her hair was pulled back in a bun. She's shorter than Uncle Carl by at least a foot, and she's slender with an elegant build. She reminded me of a graceful ballerina. From first glance, it would be hard to believe that my aunt and uncle were ghost hunters.

"So, are you girls excited for school tomorrow?" Uncle Carl asked as we started eating. We both nodded.

"We met a boy while we were walking to your house." I said.

"Oh, really?" Aunt B said, "That's nice."

"His parents are ghost hunters like you guys." Carmen said. I jabbed her in the ribs with my elbow.

"REALLY?" Uncle Carl blurted, standing up. "I finally found someone who I can tell all my amazing ghost stories to!" He ran upstairs. I heard the slamming of his door.

"Way to go, Carmen." I murmured. Carmen elbowed me in return.

"Now, who is this boy that you girls met?" Aunt B asked.

"His name is Danny Fenton. He lives a few doors down. He goes to Casper High." I said.

"I'm glad that you'll be starting off with friends."

As we started getting ready for bed, Carmen and I were talking about tomorrow.

"So, what teachers do you have?" Carmen asked.

I glanced at my schedule. "One of them is a man named Mr. Lancer."

"Ooohh," Carmen shook her head.

"What?"

"I hear he's a strict teacher. And I mean STRICT." I shrugged.

"No problemo," I assured, "I've handled strict teachers before. Remember Ms. Bonski?" We paused and shuddered. I came up to the window and opened it.

"Going to go on another 'walk'?"

"Possibly."

"Don't run into trouble." Carmen teased. "Have fun."

Two rings appeared around my waist. As they separated, my appearance changed. My hair turned snow-white. My lavender eyes were now lime-green and they glowed with excitement. I wore a navy blue button-down shirt with white polka dots that had the front tucked into a black skater skirt that ended just above my knees, black tights, and navy blue Keds. I ducked through and perched myself on my window sill, feeling the breeze caress my skin. I took a deep breath. It reminded me of home. I kicked my feet and tumbled forward into the air. As I got closer to the ground, I veered upward, barely skimming the ground by a few inches, and shot upward into the sky.

"DON'T STAY OUT TOO LATE!" Carmen called. I ignored her and watched as the house grew smaller.


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2:

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

I stared down at the bunches of skyscrapers and stores. I saw very few people walking, but they didn't notice me. I kept flying until my ghost sense went off, indicating that a ghost was nearby. I stopped and looked around, but I didn't see anything. I shrugged and kept flying. It went off again. I looked around. I heard a noise behind me. I turned around and shot a ghost ray at a tree. I flew closer until I saw a shadow in a tree. A pair of red eyes glowed ominously.

"Who's there?" I said. "I'm not afraid to fight you."

"And I'm not afraid to see your head on my trophy case." a deep voice said.

I heard a low-tone hum that quickly turned into a high-pitched screech. I yelped and flew out of the way just as mini missiles shot through the air where I was and exploded. I looked to see a robotic ghost with green-fire hair and red eyes emerge from the trees.

"I've heard of you before!" My hands started glowing green. "Skulker!"

"I see you still remember me, whelp." Skulker said.

"What?"

Skulker paused with his arms crossed. "I'm waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"I'm waiting for your childish and pathetic banter, ghost child." Skulker said.

"I have no idea what you're saying." I said. "Who are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you, whelp!" Skulker said, "What other ghost child would I be talking to, Phantom?"

"Phantom? Who's Phantom? I'm Sa- I mean, Lynn." I said.

"I see. So you're not the ghost kid." Skulker said. He took out a spinning blade. "At least I'll still have the satisfaction of putting your head on my trophy case!"

He lunged at me. I dodged and shot another ghost ray at him. Skulker used a shield and ricocheted it back at me. It hit me and I spiraled into the ground. When I stood up, Skulker was gone.

"Good riddance." I said.

As I flew back up, I crashed into something. I stumbled back. When I opened my eyes, there was someone in front of me. Another ghost child. I gasped. He had the same snow-white color to his hair and his eyes glowed neon green.

_Phantom..._ I thought. _Hey, this could be the guy Skulker was talking about._

"Sorry, I-" the boy said. "Whoa. I've never seen you around here."

"Hi, I'm... uh... Lynn." I said.

"I'm Danny Phantom. I heard some noises and I saw you battling Skulker. Nice work, by the way."

"Thanks..." There was a pause.

"So, what brings you here?" Danny asked. He circled around me, examining me.

"Just, uhh, strolling through the city." I said. I looked at my wrist, pretending that there was a watch on it. "Oh, look at the time, I got to go. Bye!"

I turned around and zoomed away. I looked behind me and no one was there. I breathed a sigh of relief, disrupting the hairs on my forehead. As I turned intangible and flew through the window to my room, I looked at the time to see that it was only about half an hour later.

"Hey. You're home a little earlier than I thought." Carmen said as she walked into my room. "I just finished unpacking a box I missed. So, what did you explore?"

"Uhhh..." I paced back and forth.

"You're stuttering. And pacing. What happened?" Carmen asked. She plopped down onto my bed. "Did you see any other ghosts?"

"Just two." I said. "Skulker..."

Carmen groaned. "Skulker? He's annoying! He's always like, 'I am the greatest ghost hunter EVER! Fear me, whelp!'"

I chuckled. _She definitely needs to get better with her impersonations..._ I thought.

"Anyways, I saw another ghost... Danny Phantom."

"Danny Phantom?! Isn't that just-"

I shrugged. "Probably." I said. "Skulker thought I was him, saying, 'I'm waiting for your pathetic and childish banter, ghost child!' and 'I'm not afraid to see your head on my trophy case!' or something."

"Maybe you're just a little frazzled. Today has been pretty busy, what with unpacking and getting settled in. Maybe we should both get some rest. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow." I nodded.

As I drifted off to sleep, questions roamed through my mind.

_I wonder what other ghosts around here are familiar with Danny Phantom. Who really _is_ Danny Phantom? And why did I come up with an alter ego name like _Lynn_?! You might as well just stamp 'Half-ghost' on my forehead.  
_


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

"Sara... wake up!" Carmen cried, shaking me. I stirred. "Time for school!"

I groaned and got out of bed. I dressed myself in a purple t-shirt and blue jeans. I slid on my tennis shoes and brushed and straightened my hair. As I stumbled downstairs and slumped in the chair, it was the same old thing that happens every time I come to my aunt and uncle's house; Carmen reading a book while Aunt Becca cooked my breakfast and Uncle Carl doing, what else? Blabbing on and on and on about ghosts. Afterwards, Carmen and I slowly snuck out of the house. Danny and his friends were waiting for us.

"Hey, guys." I said. The three waved.

"I'm Sam." the goth girl said. "I'm pretty sure you remember Tucker."

"Yeah, I remember him and his... cheesy flirting."

"HEY!" Tucker exclaimed, stomping his foot. As we walked, the Box Ghost flew in our path. Danny and I both groaned, then looked at each other suspiciously.

"I AM THE BOOOX GHOST!" The Box Ghost boomed, "I have come back to seek my revenge my trapping you within the evil of useless packaging!" I rolled my eyes.

"Look! Over there!" I said, pointing. As soon as everyone was looking, I ran behind a corner and changed forms. Danny Phantom was already there. The Box Ghost shot a ray at me.

"Look out!" Danny cried. I brought together my arms in an X formation in front of my face. An ectoplasmic shield appeared in front of me and richocheted back at the Box Ghost and hit him. Danny used a ghost thermos and sucked the Box Ghost in there. He secured the thermos shut and looked at me curiously.

"What?"

"Nice powers."

"Thanks." I flew off. I changed forms behind the corner again. "Sorry I was gone, I... uh, forgot something at my house." I winked at Carmen. We continued walking.

~~~DANNY'S POV~~~

_Another encounter with Lynn. I wonder who she is? It's strange seeing another halfa around here. She could become be my sidekick... Okay, well maybe not. Anyways, I should make it a goal to find out who Lynn really is. That name seems really familar. Maybe it's...?_

I glanced at Saralyn. I chuckled and shook my head.

_No, it couldn't be. Unless... wait a minute. Why is she staring at me?_

I glanced at her again, but she looked away quickly.

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

I stared down the hallway.

"Wow," Carmen and I said in unison.

"Now, there are three big things in Casper High that we should warn you about." Danny said, "First off, you should watch out for Mr. Lancer. Make sure you get on his good side, or else you're in trouble."

"Yeah, I got that." I said, glancing at Carmen.

"Second, you should watch out for..." Sam said. She glared at a Latino girl. She had long black flowing hair and blue-green eyes. She wore a pink shirt, blue jean Capris and white flats. "Paulina." Sam gritted her teeth at Paulina. Paulina smirked at Sam and waved at Danny. Danny ignored her.

"And finally, you should watch out for-" Danny said. All of a sudden, a group of boys came up to us and pushed Danny and Tucker down. "-Dash Baxter."

"Hey, Fen-tertainment Tonight!" Dash said. "I got you and your geek friends a toilet with your name on it!"

"Hey!" I cried. "Quit picking on my friends!" I kicked him hard in the shin. Dash cried out in pain and grasped his leg. His friends started laughing along with my friends and me.

"I'M GONNA GET YOU FOR THIS!" Dash cried, running off.

"Good riddance." I smirked. I stopped and quickly covered my mouth. Danny eyed me suspiciously.

_Oh, no..._ I thought. I looked at Carmen with my 'I-think-someone-just-found-out-I'm-a-half-ghost' nervous face. Carmen looked at me with her 'I-can't-believe-you-did-such-a-stupid-thing!' face. She makes that face a lot. I noticed the awkward pause that there was. I let out a pretend yawn.

"Look at the time! We'd better get going!" I said, looking at my wrist. Danny's eyes widened.

_Crud..._ I thought. I grabbed Carmen's arm and hurried off.

"What was that all about?" Sam asked. "Danny?"

"Huh?" Danny said after what just happened. "Oh, yeah, right. I don't know. Hey, let's get to class. The bell's going to ring soon."

~~~DANNY'S POV~~~

_I can't believe it! Lynn is really Saralyn!_ I thought about it, then facepalmed. _Wow. How did I miss that?! I'm so stupid!_

"Danny! Slow down!" Tucker cried. I then realized that I was walking really fast.

"Danny!" Sam grabbed my shoulder, stopping me. "What's on your mind? Why are you so spaced out?" I bit my lip nervously.

"Guys, there's something that I need to tell you. About Saralyn..."


	5. Chapter 4: part 1

Chapter 4: Part 1

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

I was so nervous throughout the day. I kept finding Danny, Sam, and Tucker staring at me suspiciously. After school, I changed forms and flew as fast as I could. As I flew, Danny Phantom appeared in my way. I cried out and clumsily stumbled out of the way.

"Uh... hello there." I said, nervously.

"I know it's you." Danny replied, crossing his arms.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." I said.

"Saralyn." Danny said sternly. I looked at the ground and blushed. Sam and Tucker were standing below us, along with Carmen.

"Hi..." I said quietly. Danny's expression softened. All of a sudden, the sky became cloudy and started to rain. Carmen, Sam, and Tucker ran for cover. A giant green ghost with glowing red eyes and a body like a tornado appeared.

"Vortex!" Danny and I said in unison.

"Yes! It is I, Vortex! I have come to wreak havoc on this town!" Vortex boomed. Danny rolled his eyes.

"Did you... Did you just ROLL YOUR EYES AT ME?!" Vortex cried.

"Dude, I've beaten you like a hundred times, so, let's just get this over with." Danny said. He shot a ghost ray at Vortex. It bounced off him, making no damage.

"What...?" Danny said.

"HA! Foolish ghost child! You are no match for me!" Vortex cried.

"Maybe not by himself!" I said.

"No, Sara." Danny said. "You go with Sam and Tucker. I'll handle Vortex."

"No!" I cried. "I want to fight Vortex also!"

"NO!" Danny exclaimed. Afterwards, we just ended up both shooting ghost rays at Vortex simultaneously, yet they continued to ricochet off his body. Vortex laughed.

"My turn!" Vortex summoned a giant ball of lightning in his hands and hurled it at us. My ears were ringing, but I could distinctly hear the sound of Danny and me screaming our heads off. We started falling.

"Danny! Sara!" The three below us cried. We both landed with a big thud. A few minutes later we gained consciousness.

"Guys? Are you okay?" Carmen asked.

"Yeah, I think so." I said, rubbing my head. I looked at my hands and froze.

"What's wrong, Sa-" Danny said. We looked at each other in complete horror.

"AHHH!" We both screamed. "Why am I looking at myself?!"


	6. Chapter 4: part 2

Chapter 4: part 2

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

Danny and I kept pacing back and forth.

"This is all your fault!" Danny said, "If you hadn't been in my way, none of this would have happened!"

"_MY _fault?!" I roared. "You should had just let me fight with you! Now look at me!"

"OKAY! Okay!" Danny said, throwing his hands up. "It's all right. We just need to find a way to get us back to the way we are... Hey! What's wrong with the way I look?!"

"Nothing! Nothing..." I said, scratching the back of my head... uh, I mean Danny's head.

"The question is, how are we going to turn you two back to normal?" Sam asked.

"We can always do the thing we did last time." Danny said. Sam nodded.

"What did you guys do?" I said.

"We'll explain later." Tucker replied.

Danny's phone started to ring in my pocket. I gasped. I dug it out of my pocket and stared at the device.

"Answer it!" Danny cried.

"No, you answer it! I stutter like crazy when I'm nervous! Also, I'm not good at impersonations!" I answered.

"She's not lying, you know." Carmen mumbled.

"Fine, I'll answer it!" Danny said, taking the phone. He talked with the person on the other line. "Hello? Oh, hi, mom. Oh, nothing. Just hanging out with friends. Now? Oh, okay, bye..." He hung the phone, biting his lip.

"Well?" I said, crossing my arms.

"That was my mom. She wants me home." Danny said softly.

"WHAT?!" I cried. "I can't do that!"

"Calm down!" Carmen said, "That's not a problem, she said hopefully..." Then my phone rang. I snatched my phone from Danny and answered.

"Hi, Aunt Becca. What?! Now?! Okay..." I hung up with a grimace.

"Well?" Danny asked. I looked at him nervously. He buried his face in his hands and groaned.

"What are we going to do?" Sam said.

"Well, we gotta do what we gotta do." I said, turning to Danny. "We have to pretend to be each other."

"WHAT?!" Danny exclaimed, "I don't know how to be a girl!" I stared at him.

"It's pretty easy," Carmen said, "Just think about rainbows or something."

"Hey, I don't think like that!" Danny and I said in unison. There was a long pause, then I took a deep breath.

"Well, wish us luck." I said.

"I'll help Danny in case something happens." Carmen said.

"What about me?" I said.

"We'll come with you." Tucker said. I nodded. We walked in separate directions.

As we came to Fenton Works, I gulped.

"It's okay, we'll help you." Sam said, putting her hand on my shoulder.

I nodded and changed forms. As I stepped through the door, Danny's sister, Jazz, was sitting on the couch, reading a book.

"Hey, Danny." She said. Sam elbowed me in the side, so I let out a surprised guttural groan.

"Uh, hey, Jazz." I said.

"Danny, are you okay? You seem weird." Jazz said, standing up. She studied me. My hands shook and I prayed that she couldn't see it.

"Uh, Danny just has a cold!" Tucker said.

"Y-yeah, so I'll just be upstairs." I said. We bolted upstairs. Jazz shrugged and continued reading.

I paced back and forth, wringing my hands.

"Sara, calm down." Sam said, "We'll get this sorted out."

"DANNY!" A voice boomed. There was a knock at the door. I gasped. The door swung open. Danny's parents poked their heads in.

"Uh, hi, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton." Tucker said nervously.

"Danny, dinner will be ready in a few minutes." Mrs. Fenton said.

"Yeah! We're having meatloaf!" Mr. Fenton exclaimed.

"Uh, okay, Mr. an- I mean, Mom and Dad." I said. Mrs. Fenton studied me.

"Danny, are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, you don't seem like yourself." Mr. Fenton said.

"Uh... I just have a cold." I said.

"You shouldn't have gone outside! Look at the weather!" Mrs. Fenton said, staring out the window at the gloomy and rainy sky.

"Well, you know me!" I said. "I'm just so gosh darn stupid!" Mr. and Mrs. Fenton looked at me strangely, then at each other. They shrugged and left.

"UGH!" I cried, sitting on Danny's bed. "I can't do this anymore! I have to call Danny!" I pulled out Danny's phone and dialed my number.

"Hello?" a voice said.

"Danny?"

"Sara?"

"You need to get over here! I'm going _NUTS_ over this!"

"Meatloaf for dinner?"

"Yeah..."

"Give me a minute."

Danny and I hung up and a few moments later, he phased in through the window. He was holding 2 helmets.

"What are those?" I asked.

"These are what we are going to use to beat Vortex." Danny said, tossing one to me. I caught it and examined it.

"Anything that will change me back into a girl." I said.


	7. Chapter 4: part 3

Chapter 4: part 3:

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

"When you two got hit by Vortex's lightning ball of death, some of his weather energy was transferred into your bodies." Sam said. "It's only a small amount, but with these helmets, we will be able to channel that power and use it against Vortex."

"You ready?" Danny asked. I grinned and nodded.

"Let's do this." I said.

We went outside, where, coincidentally, Vortex was.

Vortex caught sight of us and laughed. "Foolish, pathetic, worthless-!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I mumbled. "Let's just get this over with. Tucker, _NOW_!"

Tucker pressed a button, and four arms popped out of the Emergency Ops Center wrapping around Danny and me.

"What mood should I put them in first?" Tucker asked.

"Make them angry." Carmen suggested. Tucker pressed a button connecting to the helmets. The sky turned gloomy and dark. Lightning electrified the sky, shooting down and striking Vortex.

"Now make them sad." Sam said, pressing another button. Rain started to beat down.

"WHAT?" Vortex cried.

"Now, happy!" Carmen said, pushing the third button. The clouds departed and the sun started to shine. Vortex cried and fell to the ground. The four arms let Danny and I go. I looked down at myself.

"Hey! I'm back to normal!" I cried. "What a relief! I hope I never turn into a boy again."

"This will be an interesting story to tell your future kids someday." Danny said.

"In the meantime, I believe you two have some ghost butt to kick." Sam said. I nodded and Danny and I shot ghost rays at Vortex. Danny sucked him up into the thermos.

"Nice work." Carmen said.

"Well, it was kind of fun to be somebody else." I said, shrugging.

"You didn't do anything embarrassing as me, did you?" Danny said.

"What? No, of course not."

"But, what about when-" Tucker said, but Sam elbowed him hard in the side.

**_Meanwhile_**

~~~RUDY'S POV~~~

_That pathetic ghost kid._ I thought, looking through my binoculars. _There's no way such a mere child like him could do that. He did have that ghost girl alongside him. The girl seems to be getting stronger... I wonder..._

"RUDY!" a voice screeched into my ear phone.

"Yes, master Vlad?" I asked.

"Have you gotten sight of the ghost children?" Vlad said.

"Yes, master. I have. They seem to be just lollygagging around. Maybe I should-"

"NO! You are to resume your position!"

"Of course. My apologies, master." I mumbled.

_Now, where was I? Oh, yes. The ghost girl. I must observe her and find out what makes her so powerful. I just wish that Master Vlad could do this himself instead of dillydallying- They're on the move! I better hurry and follow them!_

~~~Carmen's POV~~~

_Sara sure seems to be getting better at her powers. At first she would bump into everything in sight and couldn't control her ghost rays. She sure is improving. So is Danny. They make a good team. It's like they're the perfect superhero couple... er, you know, not in a COUPLE couple way...  
_


	8. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

We stopped by the Nasty Burger after school. As we sat down, the doors burst open. Dash and his friends walked through the door. His eyes fell on me and his face contorted into a look of rage.

"YOU!" He cried, pointing a finger at me.

"Sara, stay down. Maybe if you don't move, he won't see you." Danny said.

"I'm not afraid." I slid out of the bench and stood, staring at Dash. "Back for some more beating?"

Dash's face turned red and he fumed like he was a bull and I was the matador holding a giant red cape.

"Come on, man, do something!" Dash's friend, Kwan, nudged him.

Dash shoved him away. "Shut up!" He said. He turned to me. Dash's eyes moved to my friends, and he smiled mischievously.

"My mom always taught me to never hit a girl." he said. "But she never said a Fenturd!" Danny gulped as Dash made a beeline towards him.

"Dash, no, stop!" I cried, but he kept advancing. He raised his fist, ready to punch Danny. Danny cringed.

Something that felt like a bonfire churned in my chest. I scowled and I shot my arm out towards Dash.

"I said, STOP!"

Dash's fist came down and stopped just an inch from Danny's face. Danny shuddered and shrunk back. "Hey! What the-?!"

I stared at my hands. I looked back up at Dash and gently flapped my hand back and forth. He began slapping himself.

"Ow! Stop it, hand!" Dash cried.

I smiled. _I _was doing thing. I was controlling Dash, manipulating his body. I flicked my wrist in the direction of the door, sending Dash running to it. He slammed into the door and began stumbling around in a daze. I relaxed my hands and returned them to my sides and Dash regained control of himself. He whimpered and fumbled his way out of the restaurant with his friends migrating behind. I slid back into my seat and everyone was staring at me.

"What?" I said nonchalantly.

"What did you-?" Sam asked, pointing in various directions.

"I guess it's a new power I developed." I said.

"Hey, no fair!" Danny pouted and folded his arms. "How come I don't get a cool power?"

~~~THIRD PERSON POV~~~

"Impossible! The child's power couldn't have improved so much!" Vlad snapped, his dark red eyes flaring angrily.

"I apologize, my master, but apparently it's true. She seems to be growing stronger every minute." Rudy said.

"There must be something that triggers her strength. I must find it and destroy it." Vlad said, pacing.

"Master, there is someone that has made her stronger. It seems she's grown an attachment to him."

"What?! Who is this person that you speak of?" Vlad said.

"The ghost boy, Danny Fenton."

Vlad's eyes widened as he heard those words come out of Rudy's mouth. He sat down in his chair and leaned back. The corners of his mouth twitched up into a smile.

_Ah, so it appears that Daniel is part of this. I should have known._

"Very well, then." Vlad said. "I trust you know what to do."

Rudy looked up to his master and smiled. "I thought you'd never ask..."

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

As we walked to my house, Danny seemed to be zoning off constantly.

"Danny? Are you okay?" I asked, waving a hand in front of his face. He snapped back and shook his head.

"I don't know..." he said. "I get the feeling we're being followed..."

"Well, you did almost get a serious beating from Dash. Maybe you're just a little uneasy from that." I said. He looked at me and smiled.

"You're right."

A tentacle-like cord zipped out from the shadows and wrapped around Danny. I gasped. Danny tried to change forms, turn intangible, and at least try to break free, but the cord was practically invincible and prevent him from doing so. It wrenched back into the shadows, beginning to take Danny with it.

"DANNY!" I cried.

I changed forms and flew after him. He reached a hand out to me. Just as I was about to grab it, another tentacle slammed into my chest and sent me flying to the ground. I changed back to human. I coughed and gasped for air as my lungs ached. I tried to get up, but the energy from my body was drained.

"Danny..." I whispered. I heard Danny calling my name as he disappeared into the darkness. I caught a glimpse of two sickly yellow eyes before I blacked out.


	9. Chapter 6: part 1

Chapter 6: part 1

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

I woke up in my bed with Sam, Tucker, and Carmen hovering over me.

"Sara! Are you okay?" Carmen said. I nodded slowly and sat up.

"Is Danny in trouble?" Sam said, "You've been mumbling his name for the past hour."

"Yes..." I said. My voice was raspy and my chest ached with every heartbeat. "Something took him. I don't know what it was. It happened so fast."

"We'd better find him..." Tucker said. Then everything started to become blurry.

"Sara?..." Carmen said. Then I passed out.

I found myself floating through the Ghost Zone aimlessly. I let the currents of the world pull me through it. As I drifted along, my feet found solid ground. I stood straight up and looked around. I wasn't in the Ghost Zone anymore. Had I somehow wandered somewhere else? Was this an area past the Ghost Zone?

"Hello?" I called.

There was faint warbling around me. The contour of a door was drawn before me. It opened, bathing the area in light. I shielded my eyes with my arm and stepped forward through the door.

I uncovered my eyes and I gasped. I stood on a plateau overlooking large and spacious plains covered in lush, green grass. I saw a huge city-state before me, but it looked nothing like a city that you find in the real world. It looked like it was shaped from a forest, with countless wooden huts and a large market area with people dressed in strange fashion. I ran forward and jumped off of the plateau. I made sure I bent my knees and I managed to land down onto the plain down in a crouch. I straightened and walked across the plain.

My eyes were so glued onto the unusual metropolis in front of me that I barely heard the low growl behind me. The growl grew louder with each step I took. I turned around just as a giant mass of fur tackled me into the ground, pinning my shoulders back. It was like a wolf and an vampire-ogre had a child and it was this monstrosity. Its eyes were red, and the area that should be white was black as night. It growled and bared its fangs, revealing two rows of yellow teeth so sharp you could cut through Captain America's shield with them. It roared, splattering saliva all over my face. I let out a scream.

As the beast was ready to tear my face off, it was suddenly lifted off of me. Well, it was more along the lines of picked up and thrown. I furiously wiped my face off with my sleeves and hands, crying out and whimpering like a scared baby. Because as of this moment, I was. I heard the beast roar again and I snapped my head up. It glared at me and sprinted towards me. I screamed again. As the beast lunged, a sword zoomed forward and impaled its side. It let out a loud yelp and flew sideways into the ground. I scrambled up to my feet and crept slowly towards the beast. I reached out hesitantly and grabbed hold of the sword's hilt. With a grunt, I yanked the sword out from the beast. I looked away quickly so I wouldn't see the wound. I placed the sword in both of my hands and examined it.

I held the hilt comfortably in my hand. The grip was black with purple tint. It had the feel of leather with 6 evenly spaced creased lines. The pommel was a golden-brown orb with a glowing blue peen block. The guard was golden-brown and slightly curved upward. The rain guard was two small pillars that extended an inch or two outward. In between was a long blade that had glowing blue power surging throughout it.

"Excuse me." a voice said. "I believe that is mine."

I looked up and saw a young girl standing a ways from me. She stretched her hand out towards me. I gasped as the sword disappeared from my hands. A small and trickling trail of light made its way over to the girl. She closed her fist around the light and the sword reappeared in her hand.

"You're lucky I was around." the girl said, walking over to me. "One more second with that _Lupecid_ and you would've been toast."

"I'm sorry, a what?" I said.

"You mean you've never seen a _Lupecid_ before?" the girl chuckled. "You must live in a pretty amazing place. A _Lupecid_ is probably one of the deadliest creatures that you could find here in Maedalla Bmascus."

"Mae-whata Bah-whoo?"

In a split second, the sword that was resting at the girl's side was now pointed an inch from my neck. In this moment of total panic, I took the time to observe this young girl who saved my dream-life.

Her hair was back in a long braid that laid over her shoulder and reached down to her ribcage, and it was rainbow colored- yes, rainbow colored. The glare in her eyes could very well be even more dangerous than a _Lupecid_. They were two different colors; one was white and one was gold. She was dressed in a fitted brown leather racerback tank top with black halter straps. She wore black leather pants with knee-high combat boots with multiple buckles down the sides.

"Because you just encountered such a dangerous creature and barely escaped with your life, I showed you mercy. But if you EVER mock this sacred land again..."

"I didn't mean to mock. I don't even know where it is that I am!"

The girl lowered her sword and stared at me quizzically.

"You must be from some far off land. You've never heard of _Lupecids_ or Maedalla Bmascus..." the girl said. "Who are you?"

"I'm Saralyn Matthews." I said. "Who are you?"

The girl's eyes widened. She smiled, but I could see fear in her eyes.

"It's time for me to wake up." the girl said.

"Huh?"

She reached out and touched the tip of her blade to my forehead. I gasped as my vision was nothing but glowing blue.

"_Opre__chma ledmyro healia__._"

I opened my eyes and sat up. I looked around and found myself back in the Ghost Zone.

_Am I still dreaming?_

"Tucker! Sam! Sara!" Danny. I turned around, but I didn't see him. He sounded desperate and terrified.

"Danny! Danny, where are you?!" I looked in front of me and saw a giant, run-down castle looming over me.

"Sara!" His voice was coming in direction of the castle.

I opened my eyes. This time I was really awake. I sat up in my bed. Carmen, Tucker, and Sam were gone, but I had a feeling as to where they were. I jumped off of my bed and out of my house over to Danny's. I ran through the door and downstairs into the ghost lab, where my hunch was correct and I found them down there.

"Danny's in the Ghost Zone!" I cried. "We have to hurry and find him!"

"Sara, calm down!" Carmen said. I took a deep breath. "Now start over."

"I had a dream. In one moment, I was at this worn-down castle and I could hear Danny's voice coming from it. He was screaming for help. He sounded so afraid..." I said. "We have to find him and quick!"

"Or else what?" Tucker said.

"I don't know..." I said, walking up to the ghost portal and pressing a button. The metal covers slid apart, revealing the swirling entrance to the Ghost Zone. "But I won't stand around and wait to find out!" My eyes glowed as I changed forms. An unfamiliar emotion bubbled inside of me and I couldn't figure out what it was. But I pushed it away. I need to save Danny.

~~~DANNY'S POV~~~

I woke up in the Ghost Zone, restrained to a table-like surface. A creature appeared in front of me. He had sickly yellow eyes and a blue tint to his skin. His hair was red fire, which reminded me of Skulker. In fact, he looked like he could be the brother of Skulker.

"Who are you," I said. "and what do you want?"

"I am RUDY! The master hunter of the Ghost Zone! And I-" the ghost said. I laughed to myself.

"Why are you laughing?!" Rudy screamed.

"Rudy? You know, I was expecting something more intimidating like Sheldon or Tim." I said sarcastically.

"SILENCE!" Rudy said, pressing a button. I felt an excruciating pain course through my body. I cried out. When it subsided, I gasped for air and blinked back tears.

"What do you want from me?" I said weakly.

"I was sent from my master to destroy you." Rudy said. I raised my eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah? Who's this so called "master" that you speak of?"

"Vladimir Masters."

"VLAD MASTERS?" I cried. "So that old fruit loop finally hired a hit man to do his dirty work, huh? What's the plan that he has to support the reasoning of destroying me?"

"To weaken the ghost girl."

"Ghost girl... you mean Sara?"

"Yes."

"What do you mean, weaken her?"

"You are a key to her strength. She seems to be growing an attachment to you."

"Attachment? What are you talking about?"

Rudy's lips curled into a smile.

"You surpass in strength, but you lack the wisdom. Therefore, failure is inevitable."


	10. Chapter 6: part 2

Chapter 6: part 2

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

Sam, Carmen, and Tucker got into the Spector Speeder while I changed forms and flew alongside them.

"Did your dream coincidentally give you directions on how to get to this mysterious castle?" Sam said.

"No. At first I was just floating around, and eventually I wound up there." I said.

I stopped.

"Maybe that's how we'll get there." I said.

I turned over on my back and began floating with the currents.

"Uh... Sara?" Carmen said. "What are you doing?"

"I'm letting the currents take me to Danny." I said.

I closed my eyes and listened to the steady hum of the Spector Speeder cruising along behind me. As I floated, a dull ache throbbed in my left arm. I placed my hand on my left bicep and winced as I felt a sting of pain shoot up my arm. I pulled my hand away and I saw traces of blood and green ectoplasm on my hand. I looked at my bicep and my face flushed. There was a wound that seemed to have healed a little, but it was still oozing blood. Three claw marks.

As if something had scratched me. Something big, ferocious, and very much wolf-like.

_The Lupecid._ I thought. _How is that possible? It was just a dream..._

But here I was, gaping at the wound that was here marking my flesh.

_Or was it?_

"Hey, Sara?" Tucker said. "You might want to look forward."

I did, and I recognized the castle immediately.

"That's it." I said. "That's where Danny is."


	11. Chapter 6: part 3

Chapter 6: part 3

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

The castle was so gloomy, like those haunted mansions you see in horror movies. It was the perfect place for Rudy to be hiding.

"Are you sure that Danny is here?" Tucker asked as the three got out of the Spector Speeder.

"Positive." I said.

"Wow." Carmen said, looking up at the castle. "I would not want to be the princess of this castle."

When we reached the door, we tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Stand back." I said.

The others scurried around behind a tree. My hands started glowing. I formed a giant ecto ball in my hands and I threw it at the door. It hit and the door burst open, spitting pieces of wood debris everywhere. I gestured to the others. When we ran inside, it was Door-Palooza.

"It will take forever to find Danny this way!" Sam said. "There could be a trap behind every door, and I do not plan on dying until I'm at least 80!"

"He's behind here." I said, walking to one of the doors.

"Are you sure?" Carmen said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I nodded. I opened the door. Inside was a long staircase.

"Oh, you've GOT to be kidding me!" Tucker whined.

"Come on!" I said.

I grabbed their arms and flew up. Halfway through, I set them down and we climbed on foot. At the top of the staircase was a rickety old door that was locked. I turned invisible and phased through the door.

"Danny!" I said. As I ran closer to him, something stood in my way.

"Sara!" Danny cried.

"Hey!" I cried. "MOVE IT!"

I looked up at the thing in front of me. It was a ghost alright. However, it was... different. I've never seen him before. He reminded me of Skulker.

"Who the heck are you?" I asked the ghost.

"I am RUDY!" the ghost cried. I snickered.

"Rudy?" I said, "You know I was expecting something more intimidating..."

"Yes, I know! I've already gone through that!" Rudy said.

"Well, who ever you are, RUDY, let my friend go!" I said. My eyes glowed.

"You think I'm going to let you free your "friend" that easily?!" Rudy chuckled. "I was sent for a reason."

"What? What are you talking about?" I said.

"I was sent by Master Vlad to destroy your little friend. Your strength."

"My... strength?" I said. "Not on my watch! I won't let you hurt Danny!" Rudy laughed evilly. A familiar burning ignited in my chest.

"Let. Him. _GO__!_" I said.

I raised my hands up. Rudy froze. I scanned the wall and I found the release button. I let out an angry grunt and threw my arms to the side. Rudy's body followed that direction and slammed into the wall. The button was pressed and Danny rolled off of the table onto his hands and knees. My eyes trailed back to Rudy. My eyes felt like they would disintegrate any minute from how brightly and furiously they were glowing. Rudy whipped around and glared at me. I shot out my hand towards him. My hand tensed and I curved my fingers inward like I was squeezing something. Rudy's eyes widened and a choking sound escaped from his lips. He grabbed his throat and fell to his knees.

"Sara, stop!" Danny cried. "You're hurting him!"

I grit my teeth and continued squeezing. The only thing I could hear was the blood pounding in my ears.

"Sara, STOP!" Danny said. "_STOP!_"

But I couldn't. Even if I wanted to, I knew I couldn't. Rudy hurt Danny. He must suffer.

Danny came over to me and grabbed my wrist. He moved my arm, but that only resulted in Rudy being thrown against the floor. His eyes were almost bulging out of his head as he struggled for breath.

"Saralyn, look at me." Danny said. "Look at me. I'm fine, see? I'm okay. Please, stop."

I looked at him. His face was calm and his grip on my wrist was soft.

He was also standing _really_ close. I could feel his breath on my cheek.

I looked back at Rudy and I could fully see him squirming on the ground. He was in pain because of me. If I didn't stop now, he would be dead because of me.

I sucked in a breath and my hand relaxed as it fell to my side. Rudy gasped for breath. Tears fell down my face and my legs collapsed underneath me. I fell down to my knees, taking Danny down with me. He wrapped his arms around me and I sobbed into his shoulder. Rudy laid there. He wasn't moving, but he was breathing. Thank goodness he was breathing.

"Danny, I'm so glad you're okay." I said.

"Yeah, but are YOU okay?" Danny said. "I... I've never seen you this way before."

"I... I don't know." I said. Danny stroked my hair.

The door flew open and we jumped away from each other. I quickly wiped my face of any tear residue. Tucker, Sam, and Carmen came running into the room.

"Danny!" Tucker and Sam cried as they tackled him into a hug. Danny's eyes stayed on me.

"Come on, let's get out of here before-" Danny said.

A roar echoed in the room that sent everlasting chills up my spine. We turned to see Rudy standing there. He was awake and angrier than ever. His eyes and clenched fists glowed.

"RUN!" I cried and we dashed out the door. As we left the castle, Rudy was right behind us. Tucker, Sam, and Carmen piled into the Spector Speeder.

"You guys go," I said to them, "Danny and I will hold off Rudy." The others nodded, giving us one more fearful look, and took off. I looked at Danny.

"Don't worry." I said. I reached out and squeezed his hand. "We can do it." Danny nodded and smiled. We both took firm stances as Rudy charged towards us.


	12. Chapter 6: part 4

Chapter 6: part 4

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

Okay, I have to admit. When Rudy was charging towards us, I was one second away from wetting my tights. My stomach felt like it was going to jump to my throat. I glanced at Danny, who was just as nervous as I was. I took a deep breath and started shooting ghost rays at Rudy. Unfortunately, they were ricocheting off of his armor.

"Despite that he looks like Skulker, he sure is a lot better." Danny said.

"Now's not the time for joking, Danny!" I glared.

Rudy reached out and grabbed Danny by the neck. I gasped.

"Danny!" I cried. "Let him go!" Rudy started laughing. Danny kicked and thrashed around.

My insides contorted. I began to raise my hands, but I stopped. I almost killed Rudy the last time I used my manipulation powers. Am I the kind of person that would do that?

But then I heard a low, gurgling noise escape Danny's mouth. His face began to turn whiter than his hair and the glow in his eyes was dimming.

Yes. Yes, I was.

I let out a scream as my hands glowed white. Gusts of wind blew suddenly, pushing my hair back and away from my face. Rudy struggled to keep his balance and the grip he had on Danny's throat loosened, allowing him to steal a breath of air. I brought my hands together and as they separated, a ball of light formed and grew until it was the size of a Caucasian Shepherd (feel free to pause right now to look that up). Rudy was so horrified, he let go of Danny and Danny was able to get away. I chucked the ball at Rudy, throwing it so hard I felt like my arms would be ripped from their sockets. The light smashed into Rudy and sent him flying backwards into the side of the castle. The momentum and impact was so tremendous, the entire castle quivered and collapsed on top of Rudy. I stood there in shock. Danny was staring at me in awe.

"How did... you...?" Danny said. I looked at my hands. The white glow was beginning to fade.

"I don't know." I said, shaking my head. "Let's get out of here." I said.

Danny looked over at Rudy, who was moaning from the serious can of butt-whooping that he received. That and the tons of debris that was stacked on top of him.

"Come on." I said. I took his hand and led him away from the scene.


	13. Chapter 6: part 5

Chapter 6: part 5

~~~THIRD PERSON POV~~~

Sam was pacing back and forth in the Fenton's ghost lab. They were back there, waiting for Danny and Saralyn. Only an hour had passed by, but to Sam, it felt like an eternity.

"Sam, calm down!" Tucker said, spinning back and forth in a swivel chair. "You're going to engrave a line into the ground if you keep doing that!"

"This is not the time for joking around, Tucker!" Sam said, glaring daggers at him. "I'm worried about Danny..."

There was a long pause. Tucker and Carmen looked at Sam.

"...Sorry. And Saralyn." she said quickly.

"Don't worry." Carmen said, sitting in one of the swivel chairs. "Sara and Danny can beat Rudy. They both make a great team."

"And a cute couple." Tucker mumbled, giggling.

"TUCKER!" Carmen and Sam cried.

"What?! SOMEONE had to say it..." Tucker said. He mumbled to himself and slowly turned away.

"What if Danny and Sara don't come back? What if they lost? Or... what if-?!"

"SAM!" Carmen cried, walking over and shaking her shoulders. "Just calm down. Don't think of the worst case scenario. Danny and Sara will come back..."

Sam nodded and walked off. Carmen turned around, a worried expression on her face as she slightly shook her head.

"I hope..."

* * *

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

As we were flying back to the ghost portal, I found myself gazing up at Danny.

_What am I doing?_ I thought. I tried to shake it off. _Come on, focus!_

"Sara?" Danny said. "Are you okay?" Oops. Busted.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine... It's, um, just that..." I said, my voice trailing off.

"Just what?" Danny asked. I thought about it for a minute, shook my head again and looked at Danny.

"Nothing... it's nothing..." I said. We floated side-by-side with silence filling the gap between us. Finally, we saw a big, spiraling circle, surrounded by a metal and steel octagon. It was the Fenton portal.

"Danny...?" I said, then I immediately regretted it and closed my mouth.

"Yeah?" Danny asked. I took a deep breath.

"Is this how our lives will be now?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean..." I said. "Your life used to be so simple, hanging out with Sam, Tucker, and your family. Then Carmen and I came, and I assumed your once "loser" life completely did a 180."

"Wait, what do you mean, loser life?" Danny said. I let out a soft laugh, but then my face saddened again.

"That's not my point. You know how far Vlad is willing to go to get what he wants. You know how strong Rudy is. He almost _killed_ you because of me. I... don't think we should... be friends."

"What?!" Danny said. "Why would you say that?"

"You saw what happened back there! Had I not gotten control of myself, _I_ would have killed someone. These... these powers that I have are powers that should never be used. What if someone like Vlad tries to take advantage of my powers?" Tears wet my cheeks. "I'm a monster, Danny. I'm nothing but a... a threat to your life."

I looked away, wiping my cheeks. I felt arms around me that pulled me into a hug. I recoiled in surprise, but then I eased into it and wrapped my arms around Danny's waist. I silently cried into Danny's shoulder. He said nothing. When my sobs subsided, Danny pulled away and used his hand to hold my chin and looked into my eyes.

"Now, I don't know what it is about you and the female species." Danny said. "In fact, there are so many things that I will never figure out. But there is one thing that I know about you, Sara. You are strong and powerful. More powerful than me or Rudy or possibly Vlad. But most of all, you're my friend. Nothing you say or do will ever make me think that you are a monster."

"How can you sound so sure when you say that?" I said. "How do you know that one day I won't all of a sudden turn on you all?"

"Because that doesn't sound like the Saralyn that you are. The Saralyn that I know and love."

I stared at him in shock. But also... something else.

We flew through the portal. I stared into Danny's neon green ghost eyes as they turned baby blue and he changed into his human half. I flew out of the lab, looking back at him one more time, and made my way home.

_It all makes sense now._ I thought.

I flew up to my window and climbed through it. I changed into my human self and leaned against the windowsill. As my eyes traveled around the room, I looked at the pictures that hung on my wall. I walked over. I took one down and held it in my hands. The picture was of me and my friends sitting on the hill. It was around sunset, so the sky was casting pink, yellow, and orange colors across its canvas and bathing us in its light. Sam and Tucker were frozen in laughing positions. I was looking at the horizon, my face crinkled up into a laughing smile.

But then I noticed Danny. His face was caught in an expression of wonder. His mouth was curled up into a little smile, his eyes twinkled...

And he was looking at me. Something fluttered inside my stomach and my heart pounded.

_I can't believe it._ I thought, finally coming to the conclusion that I was so afraid of admitting before. _I am hopelessly in love... with Danny Fenton._


	14. Chapter 7: part 1

Chapter 7: part 1

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

That night, I kept dreaming of Danny. I couldn't help it. Until finally, it was morning.

"Sara, wake up! Time fo-" Carmen said. My eyes shot open and I jumped out of bed.

"Whoa!" Carmen cried, trying to keep her balance. "What are you so jumpy about?"

"Uh... uh..." I said quickly. "N-Nothing..." I ran into the bathroom.

I quickly got dressed, changed forms, and flew to school. I saw Sam and Tucker there. I found a place and changed forms.

"Hey, guys." I said.

"Hey." Sam said.

"Where's Danny?" I looked around. No sign of him.

"Danny was up really late fighting ghosts, so I'm pretty sure he'll be late... again..." Tucker said.

Just then, Danny walked up next to us.

"Hey, guys." Danny said.

"Hey, Danny." I said quickly.

_He's so cute._ I thought. _Whoa, hold up, girl! Ugh, it's only been a day and I'm acting like a lovesick puppy!_

We entered the hallways. The first thing that greeted us was Dash. He was standing in the doorway, blocking our path.

"Hey, move it, Dash!" Sam said. Dash cackled.

"We mean it Dash!" I said. "Move it, or... I'll make you!"

"Move me, eh?" Dash said, standing straight and attempting to size me up. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

Dash raised his fist and punched Tucker and Danny in the chest. My emotions started to flare up again. Dash laughed and started walking away.

"Hey! Tall, dark, and stupid!" I cried. "Get your butt back over here!" Dash stopped in his tracks. He whirled around, his eyes glowing with rage.

"Ex-CUSE me?!" he cried, walking back over to us.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" I cried. I kicked him hard in the shin. Dash yelped in pain and bent down, grasping his knee. I measured. "See? Now we're about the same height."

I turned him around and gave him a hard shove. Coincidentally, there was a man painting the walls of the hallways. Dash fell, headfirst, into the paint bucket. When he removed his head, beige paint was all over his face and his hair was sticky and tangled. We all started laughing. Mrs. Tetslaff stomped up to the incident scene and a voice in my head screamed, "_WARNING! DANGER!_". She eyed me, her face as red as a tomato and her ears were practically billowing steam.

"Uh oh..." I whispered.

"SARALYN MATTHEWS!" Mrs. Tetslaff screamed. The hallways almost started shaking from her booming voice. "My office, NOW!" She stormed off.

I looked at my friends. They had worried looks on their faces and Carmen did the three-fingered Hunger Games sign. I sighed in frustration and walked to Mrs. Tetslaff's office.

"WHAT?!" I cried, jumping up from my chair. Mrs. Tetslaff sat in her big, spiral chair. Probably daydreaming about making babies cry or breaking bricks with her face.

"You heard me!" She said. "Two days of detention!"

"But... but it wasn't my fault!" I said. "Dash started it! He punched my friends, and I-"

"NO MORE EXCUSES!" Mrs. Tetslaff boomed. "Your detention will start today, after school!" She stood up and proceeded to walk out of her office. "DON'T BE LATE!"

I slumped my shoulders and sat down. I remained in the chair until I saw something glowing from the window. I gasped. I looked around and changed forms. I slowly crept up to the window. The green glowing burned brighter. I cried out when I saw bright, glowing, neon green eyes.

"Danny!" I cried. I opened the window. Danny smiled and laughed. "You blockhead! You scared me!"

"Oh, well." Danny said, shrugging. "Want a ride?"

"Danny, I have detention in two hours." I said. "By the way, thanks for the back-up."

"At least you can survive getting a monster like Tetslaff." Danny said, reaching out a hand. "Come on, what do you say?" He wiggled his fingers temptingly. I blushed a little and I slowly took his hand. Danny's eyes lit up. I climbed over the windowsill and floated next to him. He squeezed my hand and we took off.


	15. Chapter 7: part 2

Chapter 7: part 2

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

"Hey, sorry I got you in trouble." Danny said. The sun was shining and birds were chirping.

"What? It's not your fault." I said, looking up at him. I paused. The sun reflected off his white hair.

_Uh, oh._ I thought. _Come on, Saralyn. Snap out of it!_

"It's Dash's fault." I said, breaking the pause. "He's just so... idiotic! Why does he think he can pick on anyone and get away with it? That gets me so angry! I just hate that! It makes me so-"

"Whoa, Sara." Danny said. "Calm down."

I took a deep breath and we entered another stage of silence. As we flew, our ghost senses went off. A ghost ray shot out of the blue towards us. We saw the ray and dodged it.

"What was THAT?!" Danny cried.

We heard a deep chuckle that made my hair stand up. I turned slowly and gasped. Rudy. His eyes were ablaze with anger and another warning went off in my head, only this time it was on high alert. As my eyes fell upon the grin on Rudy's face, my fingers itched to send it straight into a brick wall. I gulped and hid behind Danny.

"That's right, I'M BACK!" Rudy cried. Birds cawed and flew away in the distance.

"How did you-?" I asked.

Rudy shot a ray at us. Danny shoved me out of the way as it hit him. He flew backwards, gritting his teeth.

"Danny!" I cried. I began to raise my hands.

"Don't, Sara!" Danny called. I stopped. "Cover your ears!"

I obeyed. Danny inhaled deeply and he let out a powerful ghost wail. The earth, even the sky, seemed to shake. I pressed my hands tightly against my ears. Rudy struggled, but the wail was too powerful for him. He flew backwards. When Danny stopped, he changed forms and started falling. Rudy glared at me and fled.

"Danny!" I cried.

I caught him and flew him to the ground. I watched him for a few minutes before he regained consciousness.

"Danny..." I said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so..." Danny said, sitting up slowly. He rubbed his head.

"Can you stand?"

"Maybe."

I helped him up. Danny groaned and fell back. He grabbed my shoulder and I caught him with my arm around his waist.

"You're exhausted." I said. "You need to rest."

Danny looked up at me. Our faces were mere inches away. I gulped and turned away from his gaze. I kept my arm around his waist and he slung his arm around my shoulders. I flew us up into the sky quickly but cautiously. When we reached the Fenton's home, I opened the door. Danny's parents and Jazz were there and when they turned to us, their eyes stuck to Danny.

"Danny! Are you okay?" Danny's mom asked, hurrying over to him and holding his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Danny said.

"So, who are you?" Danny's father asked, stepping over to me.

"I'm Saralyn, Danny's friend. You can call me Sara." I said. "Danny's just tired, so I'll take him upstairs." As I led Danny upstairs, Danny's parents glanced at each other.

"Looks like Danny's got a new girlfriend." Jazz smirked as she walked out of the room.


	16. Chapter 8: Part 1

**This next chapter was originally a Halloween special.**

Chapter 8: part 1:

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

We entered Danny's room, and he sat on his bed.

"Thanks." Danny said.

"No problem." I said.

Danny's eyes narrowed to my left arm.

"What happened to you?" he said. I looked down at my bicep, which was wrapped thickly in white gauze.

"Oh, that." I said, sitting next to him. "This is going to sound weird."

I told him about the dream I had with the girl, the strange metropolis that I saw (the name of which I can't pronounce for the life of me), and the _Lupecid_ that attacked me. As I spoke, Danny listened intently, keeping his eyes on me. It made me unusually awkward, but I trudged through the story nonetheless. When I finished, Danny reached up and touched my wrapped bicep.

"If that was a dream, then why do you have that?" Danny said.

I shook my head. "I don't know. Maybe it wasn't a dream after all."

"Maybe..."

Danny's hand remained on my arm. His touch was soft and it calmed the dull ache in my arm. He rubbed his thumb against my arm and a chilling frisson ran down my spine. Danny pulled away and the door was thrown open. Sam and Tucker came scurrying in.

"Danny! Sara! Are you guys okay?" Tucker cried.

"Yeah, we're fine." Danny said.

"Hey, what time is it?" I asked. Sam looked at her watch.

"Um... 3:24." she said.

"WHAT?!" I cried, jumping out of my chair. "I'm going to be late for detention!"

_Wow, that's something I don't say everyday._ I thought.

I changed forms. I waved goodbye to my friends and flew out the window over to the school. When I arrived, I changed to my human self and entered the school. There was a creepy feeling in the building when there were no students running around and causing chaos. I glanced at the clock. 3:28.

_Phew, I might actually make it._ I thought. I walked quickly down the hall and scanned the door numbers. _301... 303... 306... aha. 310. Here we go._

I slowly opened the door and stopped in my tracks. Everyone's eyes shifted over to me and it felt like one of those dreams where I came to school naked. But clothed or unclothed, this nightmare was just beginning.

"Ah, Ms. Matthews." Mr. Lancer said. "You're right on time. Have a seat."

I slowly entered and looked around for a seat. I glanced at Dash, who was still had bits of dried paint in his hair and I bit my cheeks to keep from smiling. I sat down next to a girl with long wavy black hair decorated with an orange headband.

"I will be right back, students." Mr. Lancer said. "_NO talking!_"

He slammed the door shut and everyone jumped. We waited until his footsteps faded away.

"So, what are you in here for?" the girl seated next to me said.

I pointed at Dash, who was looking in a mirror and complaining as he tried to get the paint stains out of his hair.

"YOU were the one who did that?" she said. I nodded. "Impressive."

"What are you in here for?" I asked.

"Eh, the usual. Tardiness and all that. Oh, where are my manners?" the girl said. She extended her hand out to me. "I'm Valerie."

"I'm Saralyn, but you can call me Sara." I said. I took her hand and shook it. "I can't believe I have detention. It's so _boring_."

"You get used to it." Valerie said. I glanced at the clock. 3:40. I groaned and dug my fingers into my hair.

_I wish there was some way to get out of detention..._ I thought. My ghost sense went off and the Box Ghost flew through the walls into the classroom.

"I AM THE BOX GHOST! I am back to bring to you the horrors of over the top bubble wrap packaging!" he cried.

Everyone fled the room, screaming. I glared at the Box Ghost with a smile on my face.

"Thank you, Box Ghost." I said to myself.

I changed forms and charged at the Box Ghost. I shot a ray at him and he flew through the walls and outside. I followed him, but he was nowhere to be seen. In his place was another ghost dressed entirely in black armor. He was riding a black Pegasus and wielded a flaming sword. I gasped and I flew away as fast as I could. The ghost chased after me. I continued to zoom through the skies as Danny's house came into view. I flew to the Ops Center and pressed the ghost shield activation button. The ghost shield made it and the ghost crashed into it and fell to the ground. I looked out the window and saw the ghost stand up, shake his head and glare up at me. I clumsily flew down into Danny's room and crashed onto the floor. Danny, Sam, and Tucker were still there and they jumped when they saw me.

"Impressive entrance. I give it an 8.5." Sam said.

"Are you alright, Sara?" Danny said. "Why are you back so early?"

"The Box Ghost... and there was... and I flew... ugh..." I stuttered, trying to catch my breath. Danny looked out the window and gasped.

"That's the Fright Knight Ghost!" he said. "What's he doing here?!"

"I don't know." I said. "But your reaction to seeing him is obviously not a good thing."


	17. Chapter 8: part 2

Chapter 8: part 2:

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

"Let's see here..." Danny said, pacing back and forth.

"Remember the last time you fought him?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, there was a way to stop him." Tucker said. "By putting his sword in a pumpkin."

"A... pumpkin?" I asked.

"Where will we find a pumpkin?" Danny asked, stopping and turning to us. "Halloween isn't for another month or so!"

"Maybe we should... find a farm or something?" I suggested.

"Do you know how many farms there are around here? NONE!" Tucker asked. "We'll have a better chance of finding one in this house!"

Mr. Fenton popped into the room.

"Hey, Danny!" he said, "Your mother and I have decided to prepare for Halloween early! Check out this pumpkin!"

He lugged in a medium sized pumpkin and left the room. We all looked at Tucker. He facepalmed and shook his head.

"Wow..." Tucker said. "Just... wow."

"Well, we have a pumpkin. How are we going to trick the Fright Knight Ghost this time?" Sam said.

I thought about it, then my face lit up mischievously.

"Sara..." Danny said. "...what do you have in mind?" I changed forms.

"Come with me." I said, grabbing Danny's arm and pulling him out the door.


	18. Chapter 8: part 3

Chapter 8: part 3:

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

"Are we all clear of the plan?" I asked. Tucker and Sam nodded. "Okay. Danny, are you ready?"

"No! I'm not doing this! I look ridiculous!" Danny said from the bathroom.

"Come on, you'll be fine! This plan is foolproof!" I said.

The bathroom door opened slowly. Out came Danny, dressed up like a clown, wearing a rainbow wig, a red long sleeve shirt with puffy sleeves, green overalls that had multicolored polka dots, and yellow clown shoes. His face was painted entirely white with orange around his eyes, yellow and black around his mouth, and he wore a big red nose. Sam, Tucker, and I doubled over in laughter.

"See? I'm not doing this!" Danny said, heading back into the bathroom.

"Danny, wait." I said, grabbing his arm. "Come on, it'll be quick. And no one will see you..."

"Not unless I take pictures." Sam mumbled and I elbowed her as she snickered.

Danny huffed out a frustrated breath, which caused some blue hair from the rainbow wig to squirm on his forehead.

"Fine..." he said.

We walked down the stairs. I quickly snapped a picture of Danny in his clown attire while he wasn't looking. I bit my tongue to keep myself from laughing.


	19. Chapter 8: part 4

Chapter 8: part 4:

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

"Okay, Danny, go." I said through a walkie-talkie. Danny began walking to the middle of the street.

"Ugh... do I really have to do this?" Danny said.

"YES!" Sam and I cried. Danny took a deep breath and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Look at me! I'm the Fright Knight Ghost!" Danny cried out.

From a ways down the street, the Fright Knight Ghost turned around and saw Danny. He growled and charged at him.

"Guys, he's coming!" Danny called.

"Okay, Danny." Sam said, "Just hold on!" The Fright Knight Ghost came closer.

"Guys!" Danny whimpered.

"Just a little more..." I said. Danny whimpered.

"NOW!" Sam cried.

I reached out my hand and shot ghost ray at the Fright Knight. He toppled off of his Pegasus, which became frightened and flew away.

"Yes!" Danny said.

"You hooligans!" the Fright Knight screeched. "You think that just because you scared my horse away, you won?! HA! FOOLS!"

The Fright Knight Ghost pointed his sword towards Danny and shot a ray at him. Danny jumped out of the way in a back handspring. His rainbow wig flew off and tumbled away. He skidded back a few feet in a crouch and tore off his fake nose as he changed into his ghost half.

"Wow. Impressive." Sam said. "Have you ever considered gymnastics?"

"Guys, I could use your help!" Danny called.

I flew beside Danny and we shot ghost rays at the Fright Knight Ghost. He deflected them with his sword.

"This is like Vortex all over again!" Danny said.

"Except there is NO way that I am planning on turning into a boy again." I said. I formed a ball of light and chucked it at Fright Knight Ghost like a bowling ball.

"Now, Danny!" I said. I flew back and covered my ears.

Danny took a deep breath and let out a ghostly wail. The Fright Knight Ghost flew back and his sword fumbled out of his hands. Tucker jumped up in the air and caught it. At that time, I caught an exhausted Danny and set him down on the ground.

"Quick, Saralyn!"

I craned my head towards the Fright Knight Ghost, who was starting to get up. He let out a roar and charged at us like a rocket. Tucker flung the sword at me and I managed to catch it by the handle. I lunged and stabbed the sword into the pumpkin. The force wave that came pushed me back into the ground.

"NOOO!" the Fright Knight Ghost cried.

He tried pulling the sword from the pumpkin, but it was sealed. A green ominous cloud swirled over the Fright Knight Ghost. As he began to float up to it, he tried grabbing the ground to no avail. He floated into the cloud and it disappeared. The pumpkin began to rumble as the sword pulled itself away. The sword vanished, and the pumpkin exploded, causing its insides to scatter everywhere. Including all over us.

"Yes! We did it!" We cheered, despite the fact that we were covered in pumpkin guts.

We started jumping up and down. Danny and I hugged each other. After a few seconds, realization hit. I pulled away, trying not to blush. Tucker and Sam stared at us and smirked. I stole a glance at Danny. He was blushing too.


	20. Chapter 9: part 1

Chapter 9: part 1:

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

In the dream that I had last night, I was taken to Vlad's ghost lab. I saw Rudy and Vlad. They were talking to each other.

"Master, remind me again of the plan." Rudy said.

"Ugh, you inattentive goldfish!" Vlad said. He sighed in frustration. "It is quite simple. Capture the ghost girl so that I may clone her. I'm tired of clones made from Daniel failing and I need a change. I plan to make the girl and her clone my minions, just like you."

"But what about the ghost boy and his friends?" Rudy asked.

"Simple. Destroy them." Vlad said. "They have been a nuisance to my plans for too long." The air seemed as silent as death.

"But first," Vlad said, his voice cutting through the silence. "I am going to track her down."

"Why you?"

"Because I recall the last time you met the ghost girl, you got your rear end handed to you by her alone. You are obviously not strong enough to face her, so I will handle her myself."

"Very well, Master." Rudy said, an evil sneer on his face. "When will this plan begin?"

When I woke, I gasped and sat upright in my bed. Blood pounded in my ears and black spots danced before my eyes.

_Danny..._ I thought. _I have to warn him!_

I jumped out of bed and changed forms. I tiptoed to the window and flew outside. There was a cold, light breeze outside, cooling the sweat that damped my skin. I made it to Fenton Works and I phased through Danny's wall. He was sound asleep.

_Aw, he's so cute when he sleeps._ I thought. _Wait, what am I saying?_

"Danny." I whispered.

I shook him. He turned, but he didn't stir.

"Danny...!" I said louder.

I shook him harder. Nothing. I sighed in frustration.

"DANNY!" I cried. I pushed him off the bed. He landed on the other side with a thud.

"Hey, what the-?!" Danny cried. He sat upright and chopped at the air blindly. He saw me and froze. "Sara, what in the world are you doing here? It's the middle of the night!"

"Danny, I need to tell you something." I said. "It's about Rudy."

"Again?!" Danny said. He groaned and buried his face into his pillow.

"And Vlad."

Danny lifted his head and looked at me in disbelief.

"VLAD? What is that old fruit loop planning this time?"

I took a deep breath.

"I had some sort of vision. Vlad was explaining to Rudy about the plan he had. It was to capture me and turn me to a clone and then make me into his minion and destroying you, Sam and Tucker and..." By that time, I was just babbling to the point where I didn't even understand what I was saying.

"Sara... Sara!... SARA! Calm down!" Danny said, putting his hands on my shoulders. "BREATHE."

I took a very deep breath, but that didn't calm my racing heart.

"Now, explain again. _Slowly_ this time."

I explained my vision to Danny. As I spoke, he listened intently. By the time I finished, he was up and pacing the floor.

"When did Vlad say that he was going to strike?" Danny asked.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling that it might be on my birthday, which is this next week."

"Your... birthday? You never told me about your birthday."

"Yeah, and I've always dreamed of getting kidnapped on my birthday and cloned..." I said. I smacked Danny on the arm. "Focus, Danny! This is serious!"

"Okay, okay." Danny said. "The first thing you need to do: go home. Get some rest. You'll be fine, I promise."

"O-okay..."

I walked to the window. I turned to glance at Danny. He gave me an assured smile and waved. I took another deep breath and flew through the window and back home. When I got home, I slipped into my bed, but I knew sleep wasn't going to be that easy...


	21. Chapter 9: part 2

Chapter 9: part 2:

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

When morning came, I got ready for the day. I dressed myself in a light denim tunic shirt, jean capris, and white tennis shoes. I brushed and straightened my hair. Looking at myself in the mirror, I took a deep breath. It was Saturday, the day that I could do nothing but think. I went downstairs, grabbed some leftover pancakes from my refrigerator, and walked out the door. I munched on my food and by the time I was finished, I arrived that the hill my friends and I would regularly hang out at. I sat down underneath the big oak tree planted at the very top and leaned my back against the trunk. I could see the hustle and bustle of Amity Park below me. I heard the abrupt honks and beeps of cars as they drove through the streets and the soft twittering of the birds that nested above me in the oak tree. I straightened my legs, crossed one over the other, and rested my hands behind my head. I sighed.

"Sure is a nice view, huh?" a voice said.

I turned my head and saw Danny floating beside me. He landed on the ground, changed forms, and sat next to me. He leaned his back against the trunk.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "How did you know I was here?"

"Everyone has their own special place to think." Danny said, looking over Amity Park. He turned his glance to me. "I'm guessing that what you're thinking about it Vlad."

"Of course I am!" I brought my legs to my chest and wrapped my arms around them.

I took a deep breath. I could feel my eyes swell up with tears. I turned my head and rested it on my knees.

"I'm scared."

"It's okay to be scared. And as your friend, I can be scared for you. How's this?" Danny said.

I looked and he made a silly shocked face, like he found out that someone was throwing him a surprise party but he still had to pretend to not know about it. I cracked a smile and laughed, but then I stopped immediately.

"Come on, don't be so sad." Danny said. "Cheer up a little. Come on."

I glared at him and my eyes flashed neon green.

"Okay, okay..." Danny said, showing his hands. "You really are upset, aren't you?"

I looked at him and nodded. We stared at Amity Park for a while in utter silence. A few minutes later, Danny looked at his watch.

"Uh, oh, I have to go." he said scrambling to his feet. He changed forms. "Do you want a ride?"

"No," I said, "I-I just want to be alone."

Danny studied my face.

"Well, okay then. See you later." he said. He waved and flew off. I gave him a little wave and a little smile. I followed him with my eyes as he flew. When I couldn't see him anymore, my smile faded and I sighed.


	22. Chapter 9: part 3

Chapter 9: part 3:

~~~SAM'S POV~~~

_You know, I've noticed how Saralyn has been acting kind of strange... Ever since her first encounter with Rudy, she's been drifting off into space a lot... kind of what Danny does. Speaking of Danny, he's kind of been acting strange too. He's been looking worried lately. Whenever I ask him why, he just says it's about Saralyn. I wonder what's going on... Okay, back to Saralyn. I wonder what she keeps thinking about... Maybe it has something to do with Danny. Wait a minute... no way!  
_

"Samantha! Are you even listening to me!?" my mom cried, troubling my train of thought.

I rolled my eyes. I HATE it when people call me "Samantha". It's too... what's the word?... girly for me.

"Sorry, mom. I'm just a little unfocused today." I said. My mom shook her head and went into the kitchen. I could smell dinner cooking.

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

Each day, after school, I would go to the hill to think. I would constantly ask myself questions, only to make me more worried.

_Come on, just calm down... _I thought._ Just think about something that makes me happy. Like Danny. Yeah, I'll just think about him. Ugh, talk about creepy with a capital EW._

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I thought about my past memories. It slowly made me feel a little better. When I opened my eyes, I was startled to find Sam standing in front of me. She studied my face, as if she were trying to find something.

"You like Danny, don't you?" she asked me. I flinched.

"What? Me? Like Danny? No, no way..." I said. I stuttered a little. Sam stared at me. I then looked at the ground. "It's kind of obvious, isn't it?"

Sam smiled and she sat next to me.

"It's okay." Sam said. She looked over Amity Park, taking in the view. "I know how you feel."

I smiled. An awkward silence fell.

_I'm getting tired of these._ I thought.

"I... got to go." I said finally. I changed forms and flew off, Sam waving as I flew away.


	23. Chapter 10: part 1

Chapter 10: part 1:

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

Ever since Sam found out I like Danny, everything seems slightly less stressful. That is, until Friday, my birthday, came around. I mean, sure I was rather excited to celebrate the day that my parents brought me into this world, but when an evil old man wants to kidnap you, clone you, and kill your friends, it's gonna dampen your party mood a little.

Moving on. I was about as terrified as a cat trapped in a haunted rocking chair store. I knew Vlad would strike, but it didn't help since I didn't know exactly when he would. Poor Mikey tapped me on the shoulder during gym class, and he accidentally received a face full of my fist. As my friends and I sat in the cafeteria during lunch, I just swirled my food around with my fork. However, it ended up looking like a giant pile of gross, which it didn't help to ease the churning in my stomach.

"Sara, you gotta calm down." Tucker said.

"Yeah, we'll stop Vlad and Rudy in no time." Danny said. I took a deep breath, but my heart was still pounding. I slowly stood up from the table and walked to the hallways. As I tried to sort through my clustered mind, I bumped into something. I looked up and saw what almost made my heart stop.

Vlad. He was standing right in front of me. I gasped. I tried to run, but Vlad grabbed my wrist.

"Hello, Saralyn." Vlad said.

"Let me go!" I said. I yanked as hard as I could but I couldn't break free. He was too strong. I did the only possible thing I could do.

I screamed.

* * *

~~DANNY'S POV~~~

"I am pretty worried about Saralyn." Sam said. "She's just been so troubled lately."

"Hey, I'm just as worried as you." I said. "I mean, seriously, since when has Vlad-"

All of a sudden, a bloodcurdling scream echoed from the hallways and into the cafeteria. We all gasped.

"Saralyn!" I cried.

I jumped up from the bench and dashed into the hallways. There, I saw Vlad Plasmius, and next to him he had Sara, who was struggling to get away.

"Let me go!" Sara said. "Danny!"

"Let her go, Vlad!" I said. I shot a ray at him, but he created a shield and deflected it away.

"Daniel, Daniel, Daniel..." Vlad said, shaking his head. "When will you ever learn?"

"I said, let her go!" I cried.

I charged toward Vlad. Vlad shot a ray at me, sending me flying backwards against a wall of lockers and onto the floor. I changed forms.

"Danny!" Sara cried. Vlad started disappearing, taking Saralyn with her.

"Sara!" I cried, reaching a hand out. But I was too late. I watched in horror as Vlad and Sara disappeared completely.

"No..." I said. I collapsed to my hands and knees. "NO!"

My cry echoed off the hallways, but it was nowhere close to drowning out Sara's shrieks in my ears.


	24. Chapter 10: part 2

Chapter 10: part 2:

~~~DANNY'S POV~~~

I was pacing back and forth, wringing my hands. Sam, Tucker, and I were in my bedroom after school.

"Danny, calm down!" Tucker said, spinning repeatedly in one of the chairs. "We'll find Saralyn."

"Well, I can't!" I cried. "I'm trying to calm down, but... I just can't!"

"It's okay, Danny." Sam said, spinning in the opposite direction in another chair.

"How is it okay?" I said, "I mean... VLAD is behind this whole thing! I-I don't know if... if I can stop him!"

"Danny, don't say that! We can do this!" Tucker said. "Do it for Sara."

I crossed my arms and sighed.


	25. Chapter 10: part 3

Chapter 10: part 3

~~~DANNY'S POV~~~

We walked downstairs into the ghost lab and piled into the Spector Speeder.

"I'm setting the coordinates for Wisconsin." Sam said. She tacked away at the keyboard and pressed a button when finished. The GPS lit up and the portal to the Ghost Zone opened.

"Let's ride." I said.

I revved up the engine and pounded my foot on the pedal. The Spector Speeder jerked backwards and crashed into the wall.

"Uh, sorry!" I called. Tucker and Sam grumbled under their breath.

I set the gear to drive this time and pounded my foot on the pedal again. The Spector Speeder zoomed forward through the portal and into the Ghost Zone. Sam sprawled herself on one of the chairs while Tucker pushed all the buttons that were in his sight. He pressed one button and the radio turned on.

"Aha! There it is!" Tucker said.

He turned the volume up and turned his attention back to the colorful buttons that beeped and blinked on the console.

_**I can't stand to fly**_

_**I'm not that naïve**_

_**I'm just out to find **_

_**the better part of me.**_

As my eyes scanned the scene before me, my ears and mind were lost to the beat of the music.

_**It may sound absurd, but don't be naïve**_

_**Even heroes have the right to bleed**_

_**I may be disturbed, but won't you concede**_

_**Even heroes have the right to dream**_

_**and it's not easy to be me.**_

My mind was flooded with an image of Saralyn. I remembered the day we all sat on the hill, laughing and talking. The sun was setting, so the sky was covered in shades of red, pink, and orange. I remember looking at Saralyn and seeing the sun's fading rays cast one more glow on her skin. The colors of the sky absorbed into her eyes, adding to the lavender, and they shimmered with delight.

I shook my head, but I felt the back of my head tingle and something flutter in my stomach.

* * *

~SARALYN~

I awoke in a purple ghost lab. It was far more advanced than the Fenton's ghost lab. There were all kinds of chambers and technology that I've never seen before. Chemicals boiled smoothly inside of beakers and weren't bubbling over and mucking up the counters.

I stepped forward and I bumped into something. I reached up and rested my hands against a light blue energy box that surrounded me.

"Hey, someone get me out of here!" I cried, pounding on the box.

I heard the sound of footsteps and I watched as Vlad approached me with his hands behind his back.

"Hello, Saralyn." Vlad said. "I assume you are comfortable?"

"Let me go, you old coot!" I cried.

"As much as I would love to do that, I have special plans for you."

"You mean cloning me and killing Danny and my friends?"

Vlad raised his eyebrow. "Well, since you already know what I am up to, I won't waste any time with the details."

Vlad pressed a button and a laser device came out of the ceiling and sparked with red energy.

"What is _that_?" I said.

"It's my Clonenate 3000."

"3000? What happened to 1000 and 2000?"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" Vlad exclaimed. "Enough dillydallying."

* * *

~DANNY~

"This is as far as I want you two to go." I said. "I can handle this."

"Danny, are you sure?" Tucker said. "I'm in the mood for kicking some fruitloop butt."

"We'll have to save that for another time."

Tucker and Sam looked at each other and sighed in defeat. They went back into the Spector Speeder and drove off. I changed into my ghost half, took a deep breath, and flew up into the sky.

"Hang in there, Sara." I said to myself.

* * *

~SARALYN~

"If you don't let me go this instance, I swear I'll pound the cheese curds out of you!" I said, pounding on the box until my fists felt sore.

"As tempting as that sounds, no." Vlad said.

"Danny was right. You are a crazy fruitloop."

"I could write a book on that." a voice said.

Danny phased through the ceiling and landed on the ground between me and Vlad. He glared at Vlad.

"Danny!" I smiled.

"Now, Vlad..." Danny said. "I told you once, and I'll say it again. Let her go!"

"Over my dead body!" Vlad said.

"Don't get my hopes up!"

Danny's hands glowed green and he shot ghost rays at Vlad. Vlad made a shield and the rays bounced off of the shield and hitting some of the technology. Vlad flew forward and grabbed Danny by the throat.

"Danny, no!" I cried.

Vlad smirked and tightened his grip. Danny clawed at Vlad's arm.

"Sara..." Danny said. "Use... your... powers."

"What?" I said. "But-but the last time."

The gurgling sound that escaped from Danny snapped some sense into me. My eyes glowed. I let out an angry scream and shot out my hands.

Vlad froze and his hand let go of Danny. Danny fell to the ground and gasped for breath.

"What the butter biscuit?!" Vlad said, trying to gain control of his body.

I scanned the room and found a release button on the wall. I threw my arms to the side and Vlad was thrown against the wall. His head smacked into the button and the energy box around me faded. He slumped against the ground, unconscious. As my feet landed on the ground, I was unaware of an electric cattle prod coming out of the wall. It pierced my back and electrocuted me. I screamed and fell to the floor.

"Sara!" Danny cried, crawling over to me.

"Danny, you're okay." I said.

"But what about you?"

"I'll survive."

"Can you stand?"

Danny took my hand and tried to sit me up, but I cried out and fell back.

"Sorry." Danny said quickly. "Here."

He picked me up bridal style, changed into his ghost half, and flew up and out of the ghost lab. The fear and adrenaline that built up inside of me vanished in one fell swoop and I felt exhausted. I looked up at Danny. The sun was reflecting off of his snow-white hair and absorbed into his neon green eyes. He looked down at me and smiled. I smiled back, closed my eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

~DANNY~

When I arrived at Sara's house, Tucker, Sam, and Carmen were seating in the living room. The air was as silence and deadly as the nervousness that radiated from them. When they saw me, they jumped out of their seats.

"Sara!" Tucker and Sam cried.

"Oh my gosh!" Carmen cried, rushing over to me.

"I'm fine, too, thanks for asking." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Well, another mission accomplished." Tucker said.

"But who knows what else Vlad has up his sleeve?"

Carmen shook her head.

"Whatever it may be, we'll be ready." Sam said. "Vlad has some pretty crazy schemes, but so do we."

I nodded and smiled. I took Sara up to her room. I laid her in her bed, stepped back, and stared at her.

_She looks so peaceful..._ I thought. _And beautiful._

A perplexing expression formed on my face and I shook my head. I turned around and looked around her room. I approached the collage of photos on her wall. My eyes caught on the picture of us sitting on the hill. I smiled to myself.

The picture was pretty great, but it was nothing compared to witnessing the real thing.

I glanced at Saralyn, fast asleep, and left, humming to myself.

_**I'm only a man in a funny red sheet**_

_**looking for special things inside of me...**_

_**It's not easy to be me...**_

_You got that right..._


	26. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: part 1:

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

I woke up to the sun shining through the curtains draped across the window. I sat up in my bed and glanced at the clock.

_8:00? Wow, that was a long sleep..._

I slowly got out of bed.

"What... happened?" I mumbled to myself, but the dull ache in my back brought back the memories.

_What it all... a dream?_ I thought. _No... it was all real._

I glanced at the calendar and sighed.

"Some birthday that was..." I said, kicking the carpet. I walked downstairs and into the kitchen, but was greeted by a cake in the middle of the table. "Huh?"

The cake read "happy birthday". Next to it was a card. I opened it, unaware that another card had fallen out and fluttered underneath the table.

"Happy birthday, Saralyn." it read. "Sorry about yesterday, but look on the bright side! You're alive! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

-From: Carmen, Sam, and Tucker.

My frown stretched down to my chin. I tossed the card back onto the table and made my way back into my bathroom. I changed out of my day old clothes and dressed myself in a navy blue sweater with white stars, gray sweatpants, and fuzzy hot pink socks. I entered my bedroom, determined to go downstairs drown my problems in an unhealthy amount of game shows and ice cream. As I passed by my bed, I felt my foot catch on something. I cried out and fell onto my stomach, using my old clothes as a cushion for my fall.

"What the-?!" I cried, turning to my back. "Danny!"

Danny was sprawled out on the floor, fast asleep. I crawled up to him.

"Danny, wake up!" I said, jabbing his side. Danny jolted and sat up.

"What the?! Who-?!" he said startled. "Oh, hey Sara."

"Danny, why are you sleeping on my bedroom floor?"

"Uh...?" Danny scratched the back of his head.

I raised my hand. "On second thought, don't answer that."

Danny rolled his eyes. It was quiet.

"So..." I said, fumbling with my thumbs. "Thanks for saving me."

"What are friends for?" Danny smiled.

"Yeah... friends."

I looked away, and when I glanced back at Danny, he was staring at me.

"Why are you staring at me?" I said.

"You look..." Danny said.

"Nasty? Well, I haven't showered since Thursday, my hair's all gross, and-"

"No..." Danny said, leaning forward slightly to study me. "I've never seen you look like this. It's different, and I like it. You look... pretty."

I smiled as my cheeks turn into an all new shade of red.

"Thanks." I said.

Danny realized what he said and he looked away, showing off the pink that began to flush into his cheek.

"Hey, there's a marathon of Wheel of Fortune today. Wanna watch it with me?" I said.

Danny's eyes lit up. "I'll make the popcorn."


	27. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

Monday: the day that makes all kids cringe and all working adults cry. But something about today was different for me. I guess when you get kidnapped by a crazy fruitloop and get rescued by your crush, it kind of makes you appreciate things a little more. My friends noticed my change of attitude when I was actually participating in Mr. Lancer's class instead of dozing off. When lunch came around, that's when they pounced.

"So, Sara, you've seen to have discovered the secret to happiness." Tucker said, taking a big bite out of his hamburger. "Care to enlighten us?"

"Yeah, you usually want to pass out from exhaustion, not... whatever this is." Danny said. "What's up?"

"Uh, you know, just various circumstances that have come to pass..." I said, fumbling with my thumbs.

I glanced over at Sam, who was staring at me with a teasing grin. I looked down at my food and felt my face flush with heat. Danny and Tucker looked at each other.

"Girls. I'll never understand them." Tucker said, shaking his head. "That's why I don't have a girlfriend."

"Yeah, _that's_ why." Sam snorted.

"HEY!"

"All right, then, if you are finished pestering me with questions, I have some business with a trash can that I must attend to." I said.

I stood up from the table with my tray and walked over to a trash can. I gasped as I felt my foot catch against some and I stumbled forward.

"Whoa!"

I felt a hand under my stomach, keeping my hovering from the ground only a foot away. I expected trash to rain down on me and coat me in unknown stickiness. I even looked up and saw a half-filled milk carton fall upside-down toward my head, but it suddenly vanished.

"You should be more careful." a voice said.

The hand planted on my stomach lifted me to my feet with ease. My "knight in shining armor" was a boy with blond hair and hazel eyes. He wore a green polo shirt with black stripes, blue jeans, and white sneakers. My eyes drifted to the food tray that rested in the boy's hand. My milk carton was there, and judging by its looks, not a drop of milk had spilled. The boy turned and threw my trash away, hesitating to meet my gaze again.

"Um... thanks." I drawled. "I'm Saralyn. Call me Sara."

"Nice to meet you." the boy said shyly.

"What's your name?"

"Uh..."

_He doesn't know his own name?_

"Aaron." the boy said. "My name is Aaron."

"That's some skill you've got there." I said. "It was like... magic."

Aaron's face flushed; not too much, but just enough that I noticed.

"You must be seeing things." he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and shrugging.

I placed my hands on my hips and my eyes flashed neon green for a split second. Aaron looked at me in surprise.

"I'll see you around." I said casually.

I turned and walked away.

"Um... yeah..." Aaron mumbled.

As I sat back down at the lunch table, my friends looked between me and Aaron.

"Who was that guy?" Danny said. His eyes flashed neon green and his faced hardened.

"His name is Aaron." I said, smirking. "And I believe you've got a little jealousy on your lip."

"Wh-what?! I do not." Danny crossed his arms. "But I saw what happened. Trash was definitely flying, but then a split second later, it was sitting in a tray. It was weird."

"Maybe he's a ghost?" Sam said. "Or a wizard or something?"

"Maybe he's a robot from THE FUTURE!" Tucker cried. We all stared at him and I could practically hear the sound of crickets chirping. He shrunk back. "Or something..."

"Who knows?" I said, shaking my head.

We looked at Danny, waiting to see what he had to say. He just shrugged and shook his head.


	28. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

During science class, I kept thinking about Aaron. Of course, not in THAT way...

_What is he? A ghost? Shape-shifter? Ugh, it's so complicated..._

I didn't see Mrs. Jordan walk over to my desk until she was right in front of me. She rapped her ruler on my desk, knocking me out of my daydreaming and almost out of my chair.

"Saralyn, pay attention!" she said.

"Sorry." I mumbled. I glanced at Sam, who was sitting next to me.

"Thinking about Aaron?" Sam whispered.

"A little bit. He's just a mystery."

I sighed and shook my head. I turned my eyes to the chalkboard, staring at the periodic table until my eyes went cross-eyed. I groaned in frustration and rested my chin in my hands.

"I know what you mean." Danny said, who was sitting on the table next to us.

Our ghost senses went off, followed three seconds later by Skulker. Everyone burst into screams and ran out of the room in a panicked order. I rolled my eyes and we changed into our ghost forms.

"Wow, Skulker. It's been a while since I've seen you." I said. "I was actually beginning to miss you. Where have you been?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't even know myself." Skulker said, which earned an eyebrow raise from me.

"What do you want, Skulker?" Danny snarled.

"Relax, ghost child. I'm not hunting you... for now." Skulker said. "I'm looking for someone... or something else."

He pulled out a piece of paper and showed in to Danny. His eyes widened. I looked at the picture. It was of a wolf ghost with black tangled fur and glowing green eyes. His green shirt and pants were tattered.

"Wulf?!" Danny cried. He took the paper and burned it within his ectoplasm ball. "I won't let you hurt him!"

"Who's Wulf?" I asked.

Danny ignored my question. He grabbed Skulker by the collar and rammed him into the chalkboard. "Where is Wulf?!"

"How should I know!?" Skulker said, swatting away Danny.

"I know you're hiding something!" Danny said. His hands started glowing brightly with green. "Tell me!"

"Look, whelp," Skulker said, "all I know is that he's been sighted somewhere in the woods. That's all."

"Well, thanks for that," Danny said. A mischievous smile grew on his face. He quickly took out his thermos and sucked Skulker inside.

Danny turned to me and saw me in my shock. He started blushing from embarrassment. My shock turned into a smile and I giggled.

"So, who is Wulf?" I repeated the question.

"He's a friend of mine. Walker's probably looking for him, so he sent Skulker. We'd better go find him." Danny said. His voice was full of worry. I nodded. We flew out of the school and headed towards the woods, Tucker and Sam trailing behind us.

* * *

~SARALYN~

We made it to the woods. We searched every nook and cranny of all the trees we saw, but Wulf was nowhere to be found.

"We're never going to find him!" I cried. I heard a few birds chirping, as if they were yelling at me to keep it down.

"We'll just have to look again!" Danny said.

"Danny, don't you see?" I snapped, putting my hands on my hips. "Skulker probably just sent us here to throw us off! I mean, what are the chances we find a wolf gho-"

I stopped when a large bush began to rustle nearby us. I gasped. Danny slowly approached the bush. When he reached out to touch the bush a shadow jumped from the bush and pinned him to the ground.

"Danny!" I said, running to him.

"Let me go, you-" Danny said. He looked up at the creature and a smile spread on his face. "Wulf! It's you!

Wulf howled happily and licked Danny's face.

"Whoa, easy boy!" Danny said as Wulf jumped off him.

I chuckled, but stopped as Wulf approached me and snarled. Danny stood in between me and Wulf, his arms stretched out to the side.

"It's okay, Wulf." Danny said, slowly and enunciating. "She's a friend of mine."

Wulf started speaking, but I had no idea what he said.

"It's good to see you, too." Danny said. I grabbed his arm.

"You know what he's saying?" I whispered.

"Yeah, it's some language that Tucker taught me. It's a way for geeks to communicate with each other." Danny said.

"Hey, you said it, not me." I mumbled.

Wulf came up to me and smelled me.

"Uh..." I said, staring at Wulf strangely.

Wolf smiled and started panting. He stuck out his tongue, ready to lick me.

"Whoa, there!" I said, stepping away. "No thank you. I, uh, already showered today."

Danny chuckled in the background.

"Come on, Wulf. Walker and Skulker are looking for you." Danny said turning to Wulf. "We'd better get you to my house."

"What about your parents?" I whispered in his ear.

"Um, make that Sam's house."

Wulf howled. Danny grabbed one of Wulf's arms and I grabbed the other. We flew up and out of the forest, but not before skillfully smacking into every tree we came by.


	29. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

~~~THIRD PERSON POV~~~

Vlad paced back and forth, mumbling to himself with a bitter scowl on his face.

_I can't believe that buffoon's son actually defeated me. Me! All thanks to that little ghost girl..._ he thought.

"Master..." Rudy said, approaching me cautiously.

"WHAT?!" Vlad yelled. As he turned around, his cape whipped behind him.

"I have uncovered some data. About the... topic you spoke about earlier."

"What?! Impossible!"

"Come with me."

Vlad scowled, but reluctantly follow him. They went to the study.

"Well, spit it out. What is it?!" Vlad said, crossing his arms impatiently.

Rudy sat in the desk chair and typed away on the computer. A screen popped up, showing multiple files. Vlad scanned the computer screen and his scowl deepened.

"You dolt!" Vlad cried, furiously trying to fight back the urge to smack his minion upside the head. "I already know all of this! There's nothing else!"

"That's what they want you to think." Rudy said.

He clicked on a button and a small window popped up, asking for a code. He typed it in, strange and intricate designs appearing one after another. A file popped up in a language unknown to man, but looking at the language, Vlad knew right away what it was. A smile curled up in the corners of his face.

"Well, well, well..."

* * *

~SARALYN~

We arrived at Sam's house, and a while later, Tucker came zooming over on his electric scooter. We entered Sam's house, and I was astonished. I mean, I thought that the house looked big on the outside, but it was even bigger on the inside. Like, huge with a capital _holy crud._

"THIS is your house?!" I said in awe.

I glanced up at the giant crystal chandelier that hung above us.

"Yeah. It's a long story..." Sam said, nonchalantly shrugging.

"So, where should we keep Wulf?" Danny said.

Wulf sprawled onto the floor on his back, hoping someone could scratch his belly. I stifled some laughter.

"In our dog kennel." Sam said.

"You have dogs?" I asked.

"No, my dad is allergic to them, but hey, we need something to fill our rooms."

"Okay then, lead the way." Tucker said.

* * *

~DANNY~

Sam lead us to the dog kennel, which wasn't very hard to find because the door to the dog kennel read "Dog Kennel".

"Okay, Wulf," I heard Sara say, "You'll stay here until it's safe for you to return to the Ghost Zone. Maybe this thing with Skulker and Walker will blow over soon."

We stepped closer to the door and stopped as mine and Sara's ghost senses went off.

_That's weird..._

Wulf sniffed the door and snarled.

"It's okay, Wulf." I said, patting Wulf's back. "I mean, what's so bad about a dog kennel?"

"Did you even hear what you just said?" Sam said, crossing her arms.

Tucker opened the door and gasped. As the door swung open, we were able to see Walker and Skulker standing in the kennel.

"You just HAD to say that, didn't you?!" Sam said, slapping my arm.

"Hey!" I cried, rubbing my arm.

"Hiding a wanted creature from the law?" Walker said, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "That's against the rules."

"The penalty?" Skulker said, smirking, "Your heads on my trophy case!"

Out popped a rocket from Skulker's armor, and it was pointing right at us.

"RUN!" Sara cried. We grabbed Tucker and Sam and flew out as Wulf jumped out a window, breaking it.

"Darn it, that was pure Jadeite!" Sam cried. "Do you know how much that costs?!"

"Sorry, Sam, I didn't know that window is more important than OUR LIVES!" Tucker said.

Wulf howled, trying to get out attention. We looked ahead and jerked out of the way of a post. I looked behind us and saw the rocket, still following us.

"Darn heat-seeking missiles." I mumbled.

"Danny!" Sam cried, pointing at the rocket. "Look!"

The rocket suddenly swerved down. As I traced the rocket with my eyes, I saw the target, a boy with short blonde hair wearing a polo shirt and jeans. I looked at Sara, who had a horrified look on her face.

"The rocket's heading towards Aaron!" Sara cried. "AARON!"

Aaron stopped, and just as he turned around, the rocket collided into the ground. There was an explosion, and we all flew back into the ground. Sara jumped up to her feet and ran forward. Through the dust and smoke, there was nothing but a large crater in the ground. Aaron was gone.

* * *

~SARALYN~

As I stared gaping at the huge crater blemishing the streets, everyone stood beside me, shock washing over their faces.

"Oh, no..." Sam said, one hand covering her mouth in shock.

"Why did the rocket go towards Aaron in the first place?" Tucker asked. I shook my head. I couldn't take my eyes off of the crater.

"Aaron..." I said, putting my head in my hands.

There was a moment of silence.

"Did someone call me?" a voice said. We whirled around.

"Aaron! You're okay!" I smiled. I studied him in disbelief. He looked as if the rocket didn't even touch him.

"What!" Danny said. "I can't even survive a hug from my dad without looking a little disheveled! You just got BLOWN UP! How is that possible?!"

Aaron looked around carefully.

"Okay, I guess I should tell you. But first off, I know you guys are half ghost." he said.

"What?!" Danny and I cried in unison.

"It's okay, I won't tell anyone. Besides I knew it the moment I laid eyes on you." Aaron said, putting a hand over his heart. He turned to Danny. "And by the way, the next time you feel like glaring daggers at somebody, you might want to cool it with the glowing eyes."

Danny cowered in embarrassment. "Sorry..."

"Aaron... what _are_ you?"

"I'm..." Aaron said his voice a little low. He took another look around. "I'm magic."

"Magic?" Sam said a little too loudly. Aaron gestured her to be quiet. "Like a warlock or wizard?"

Aaron nodded. Danny began to laugh.

"Oh, come on." he said. "Are we on Punk'd or something? How do we know you're not just lying?"

Aaron smiled, casually cracking his knuckles. "Oh, I love it when people ask that question."

"Huh?"

Aaron snapped his fingers and the street light that stood next to us morphed into a giant serpent. I screamed and jumped back, jumping into Tucker's arms. Aaron chuckled, snapped his fingers again, and the serpent turned back into its street light form.

"So..." Tucker said. "I take it you're interested?"

I scowled and jumped out of his arms, taking a step away from him.

"You...you..." Sam said, flabbergasted. Her purple eyes widened.

"You really are magic." I said. "Why didn't you tell us before?"

Aaron gave me a "seriously?" look.

"Sorry." I said. "Well, welcome to the team. We need your help with protecting Wulf from these two bad ghost guys named Walker and Skulker."

"Okay, Wulf..." Danny said.

We all turned around.

"Wulf?!" I cried.

Wulf was gone.

* * *

~DANNY~

"WULF!" I cried cupping my hands over my mouth.

"Danny, calm down!" Tucker said.

"But... Wulf is gone!"

I began to pace back and forth while wringing my hands. Sara put a hand on my shoulder and stopped me.

"Danny, it's okay." she said. "We'll find Wulf. It shouldn't be too hard to find a giant ghost wolf."

I turned and looked at her. The sun was in a perfect angle, casting a golden glow on her face and absorbing into her lavender eyes that crinkled up into a smile. She looked... beautiful.

_Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute... this is getting weird..._ I thought.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah, you're right..."

"As usual." Sara said giving me a playful smile. I rolled my eyes and smiled back.

We turned around to see Aaron sitting on the ground.

* * *

~AARON~

"Aaron, what are you doing?!" Sara said, "This is no time to be sleeping!"

"I'm _not_ sleeping." I said, opening my eyes and looking up at her. "I'm meditating."

"Um... why?"

"So I can mind-travel. It's taken me a while to perfect, but I should be able to find your ghostly pet."

I heard Danny snicker. "Mind-travel?"

"Look, do you want me to help you find Wulf or not?!" I snapped. Danny shut his mouth.

I closed my eyes again, but I could still feel their eyes gawking at me.

"You know, I would concentrate better if you guys weren't STARING AT ME!" I cried, my eyes still closed. I heard the shuffling of feet and quiet whispers, but I ignored their comments.

I took deep breaths and cleared my mind.

_Come on, you big pile of ghost fur... where are you?_

All of a sudden, my head felt like it got hit by a brick. I cried out in pain and fell back.

"Aaron!" Sam said.

She whirled around and grabbed my arm to keep me from slamming my head against the broken cement. She pulled me into her arms and carefully laid my head on the ground. Everything went black.

* * *

I opened my eyes to a large and spacious void. The sky was dark with green swirling portals and floating doors strewn in the air.

_The Ghost Zone._ I thought. _Why am I not surprised?_

I stood up and looked up at a giant prison that was built on the gigantic floating rock I stood on. I walked right through the door and looked around.

_Now, if I was a ghost warden, where would I keep a ghost wolf?_

I didn't know the answer, so I kept looking around. I found Wulf with his wrists and neck in chains that were connected to the wall. His clothes were completely tattered, more than usual. I saw a few patches of raw skin on his arms and legs. He was slightly bleeding. Walker and Skulker were standing several feet away from Wulf, talking to each other.

"What should we do about Wulf?" Skulker asked.

"Wulf's the bait of my plan. He's to lure the ghost kids and their friends to come and save him." Walker said, "Then we capture them and let them rot in a cell."

"Are you sure about that?" Skulker said. "You don't know what you're up against. The ghost whelp is powerful, especially with that ghost girl."

"There's nothing scary about a bunch of ghost brats."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that..."

Walker chuckled and Skulker crossed his arms. Wulf let out a howl and collapsed to the ground.

* * *

My eyes shot open and I sat upright, groaning and clutching the side of my head.

"Wow. Mind-traveling: I don't recommend it." I said.

"Aaron, are you okay?" Sam asked, still kneeling beside me.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine."

I looked at the others and my face fell into a serious expression.

"I know where Wulf is." I said.

"Really?! Where is he?!" Danny said quickly.

"He's in the Ghost Zone." I said.

I told them my vision. Everyone had horrified looks on their faces, especially Danny, who looked as if he was about to pass out from how angry he was.

"That Walker." Danny said, clenching his fists. "I'm gonna make _him_ rot in a cell!"

"Skulker was actually against wanting to capture us?" Saralyn said, crossing her arms. "You know, something's been pretty off about that guy. I mean, he suddenly disappears, and when he comes back, he has no memory of where he went? What's going on with that guy?"

"I don't know, and I don't plan on having a heart-to-heart with that guy anytime soon. We need to help Wulf."

Sara rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat.

"Okay, let's go." Sam said.

Danny and Sara changed forms.

"Uhh, guys?" I said, pointing at myself. "Hello? Magic?"

"Oh, right." Saralyn said. "Lead the way, Wizard of Oz."

I snapped my fingers, and in the blink of an eye, we vanished.

* * *

~THIRD PERSON POV~

"Incredible!" Vlad said.

He reread the file repeatedly, making sure that single word was engraved into his brain. With each time Vlad read the file, the smile on his face grew. Rudy crossed his arms in satisfaction.

"Rudy, riddle me this: what is something that exists in everyone's life, yet is forgotten as if it never did?"

Rudy looked a little uncomfortable. "Um... I don't know, Master. What?"

Vlad sat back and held his hands together.

"The past. And you know the saying, "Those who fail history are doomed to repeat it"? Well..." Vlad let out a chuckle. "The worlds are about to receive a pop quiz. There are only three beings that have the power I seek, and all of them live in a dimension oblivious to the human world... but not anymore."

Rudy raised his eyebrow. "Where are you going with this, Vlad?"

Vlad smiled and stood up. "Pack my things, Rudy. I am going on a little trip."

* * *

~SARALYN~

We appeared at the doors of the prison. Everyone collapsed to the ground except Aaron.

"Okay, this magic thing is going to take some getting used to." I said to Aaron, who was standing up straight and brushing away dust that collected on his clothes.

"All right, so how are we going to get Wulf out of there?" Sam asked.

Danny thought about it, then smiled. He changed back into human.

"Uhh... why did you do that?" Aaron asked.

"In the ghost zone, we're the ghosts." I said.

Aaron raised an eyebrow. I rolled my eyes.

"Observe." I said.

I changed back to human and walked up to the wall. I held up my arm and stuck it through the entrance doors. It phased right through with ease.

"Impressive." Aaron said. "Anyways, Tucker, Sam, you guys stay out here and be lookouts."

"Aw, how come we have to be the look outs?!" Tucker whined.

"Do _you_ want to hang on with a bunch of ghost criminals?" Sam said.

Tucker's face flushed. "On second thought, I'll just hang out here."

Aaron rolled his eyes. "Sara, Danny, you guys and I will go in and get Wulf."

"Okay." Danny and I said in unison.

We all put out hands in the middle and split up.

* * *

~SARALYN~

Danny and I followed Aaron through the ghost prison, staying invisible to avoid being caught by the guards that patrolled around.

"He's in there." Aaron said as he walked up to a door.

"Let's just get Wulf and get out of here." Danny said.

"Wait a minute." I said stopping him. "Do you hear that?"

"What?"

"Listen..."

We heard small voices in the background that got louder as it got closer. I identified them as Skulker and Walker.

"When will those twerps get here?!" Skulker said, crossing his arms.

"Patients, Skulker." Walker said. "They'll be here."

"I still don't plan on capturing them. I just want to prove to you that they can't be stopped. You don't know what you're up against!"

"Are you questioning me? Because that is against the rules. Now keep your mouth shut."

Skulker mumbled to himself and I could hear the sound of him rolling his eyes.

"See? Skulker's acting so weird..." I said. "What's up with him?"

There was a pause and I heard a chuckle from Walker.

"Looks like they've arrived." he said.

We gasped. From the other side of the door, there was a ripping sound and a loud howl. Danny's eyes widened.

"WULF!" he cried, reaching for the doorknob.

"Danny, no!" I said, grabbing his arm.

At that same moment, the door was thrown open, and we fell back against the wall. A giant shadow loomed over us.

* * *

~DANNY~

"Wulf!" I cried out.

Wulf barked happily and licked my face.

"Easy boy." I said.

"What happened?" Sara said.

Wulf spoke his "nerd" language and flexed his muscles. Sara chuckled.

"Well, all right then." Aaron said. "We have Wulf, now let's get out of here."

We turned around, and at that exact moment, another shadow, bigger than Wulf's, squeezed through the door.

"Guards! Capture the prisoner!" Walker cried.

"RUN!" Sara finally screeched.

A wave of ghost guards zoomed towards us. We ran down the hallway, Sara and I blasting guards with our ecto-rays and Wulf slashing at them with his claws.

"Stop them!" a guard cried.

"Aaron, we'd really appreciate it if you did your magic stuff and got us out of here!" I said.

"Oh, right. Hang on, guys!" Aaron said.

He shot his hand out and a portal appeared before us. We jumped through and collapsed in a dog pile inside the Fenton's ghost lab.

"Ugh, you need a bath!" Sara coughed.

"Wulf doesn't smell that bad." I said.

"I wasn't talking about Wulf! Now get off of me!"

Sara shook us off and sat up.

"Hey, where are Sam and Tucker?" I said.

"Wait for it..." Aaron said.

We heard some screams and Sam and Tucker came tumbling out of the portal onto Saralyn.

"Seriously?!" Sara cried. "Haven't you ever heard of a little word called relocation?!"

"A little warning next time for be great." Sam said, rolling onto the ground and standing up.

"I'm sorry, but I just saved your butts back there." Aaron said, crossing his arms. "A little "thank you" or some praising would be accepted.

Sam glared and him and he raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Well, mission accomplished, I guess." Tucker said.

"Could things get even more random around here?" Sam said, crossing her arms.

"Don't jinx it. Next thing we know, we'll be fighting against a giant ogre king or something." Danny said.

Everyone chuckled.


	30. Chapter 15

Chapter 16: The Week Before Christmas

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

There was a knock at the door. Danny opened it and there was Aaron.

"Hey, Aaron." we said.

"Hi." Aaron said. "Man, you guys will NEVER believe the dream I had last night!"

"What? Did you dream about being a multimillionaire with a unicorn made of gummy bears and twenty wives that all look like Paulina?" Tucker snickered.

Everyone turned and stared at Tucker.

"Because... I certainly didn't..." He chuckled nervously and cowered back into the corner.

Danny pulled out a big green and red tub.

"Decorations, check!" he said.

"Let's get decorating!" I cried, pumping my fist in the air.

After a couple of hours, the decorating was finished. We stood for a while, gazing at the amazing lights around the house.

"Wow." I said.

Multi-colored lights surrounded the fireplace and following all around the room and up the staircase. Four stockings were placed over the fireplace. From oldest to youngest, it had the Fenton's names on them.

"Nice work, guys." Danny said.

"It's pretty." Aaron said.

"We should do my house next." I said.

Blue mist erupted from mine and Danny's mouths.

"Oh, great. What now?" Danny said.

The Box Ghost appeared.

"Really?" I said, crossing my arms.

Danny and I transformed into our ghost halves and stood there, waiting.

"What?" The Box Ghost said.

"There's a routine to this: You shout some stupid box banter, we pretend to quake in our boots, but then we turn around and kick your butt and suck you into the thermos... the usual." Danny said. "Of course, we could just skip to the thermos step and be done."

"I have no witty banter for you, peasants!" the Box Ghost said. "For I have found the ultimate box which will have the world bowing before me!"

The Box Ghost held out a small purple and black box with a skull on the front.

"What, you upgraded to jewelry boxes?" Danny snickered.

"Danny, that's not a jewelry box!" Sam said. "That's Pandora's Box! How did you get that?!"

"Hello? I'm the BOX Ghost." the Box Ghost said.

The Box Ghost smiled mischievously and opened the box. Colonies of bats flew out of the box.

"He'll try to destroy Amity Park with that box!" Tucker cried.

"Who cares about that?!" Aaron said. "It took me three hours to get these lights up!"

The bats charged for us. We ran outside.

"We have to stop the Box Ghost!" I said.

"We'll need the help of Pandora, the owner of that box." Sam said. "She's the only one who knows how to stop this."

"Well, where is she?" Aaron asked.

"She's in the Ghost Zone." Sam said, pulling out a book.

"How long have you had that book?" Tucker said.

Sam glared at him. "Three years. What's your point?"

Sam handed the book to me. "You guys find Pandora. Aaron, Tucker, and I will try to keep the Box Ghost from causing any real chaos."

Danny and I nodded. We put our hands in the middle. Danny and I turned around, phased through the walls, and into the Ghost Zone.

* * *

"So, where is Pandora's castle?" Danny asked.

I opened up the book Sam gave us.

"Hmm..." I said, skimming through the book. "I can't find where it is. Let's just keep flying until-"

All of a sudden, Skulker zipped past us. Three green, fire-spewing, human-sized dragons chased after him.

"We have to help him!" I said.

"What?! Why? Since when did he do anything good for us?!" Danny said.

"The guy's been through a lot. Come on."

Danny mumbled to himself. "Fine."

We flew invisible underneath the dragons. The dragons were blowing fire out like a volcano. We flew underneath Skulker. Danny grabbed him by the collar and yanked him down. We pulled Skulker down to a small ice island.

"Uhh..." Skulker said. "I guess I should thank you..."

"No need." I said.

"Just remember. You owe us." Danny said.

* * *

~~~TUCKER'S POV~~~

"What is taking those two so long?!" Sam cried, trying to shoot the bats.

"Sam, it's only been 5 minutes! Calm down!" Aaron said.

"How can ANYONE calm down at this time?!" Sam said. "Do you NOT see what is directly in front of you?!"

"Guys, stop fighting!" I said. "We just have to keep fighting until Danny and Sara get back!"

Two R.V.s exploded from the trees. Two people came out. The first R.V. had Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. The second R.V. had another couple that I didn't know. I think it was Sara's aunt and uncle.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton!" Sam said.

"Stand back, kids!" Mr. Fenton said. "We'll handle this!"

"No, there's too many, Jack!" Mrs. Fenton said. "We need all the help we can get."

"Fine," Mr. Fenton said. "but first, I get to try out my new ghost weapon!"

Mr. Fenton pressed a button and a big laser came out.

"I call it the Ghost-Destroyer-Inator!" Mr. Fenton said.

"Inator? Isn't that a little too-" I said.

"It's great, Mr. Fenton!" Sam said, covering my mouth. "Let's use it now! Right away!"

"Yes! Let's!" Mrs. Fenton said gleefully.

Mr. Fenton pressed and the Ghost-Destroyer-Inator started to charge up. A giant ball of ectoplasm formed. When it was big enough, a gigantic ecto-ray shot at the bats and the other creatures. Every creature that was touched by the ray disintegrated and disappeared.

"Wow. It actually works!" I said.

"Pardon?" Mr. Fenton said.

"I... just said that this is an awesome invention! Uh... just like every other wonderful invention you have!" I smiled nervously.

"Why, thank you!" Mr. Fenton said before he charged off with Mrs. Fenton to fight the creatures.

"Wow..." Aaron said, shaking his head. "Just... wow."

* * *

~~~SARALYN'S POV~~~

"You have GOT to be kidding me..." I said.

My mouth dropped as I gazed at the gigantic labyrinth in front of us.

"We have to get through this?!" I said.

"Yup." Danny said.

We stepped into the maze. "But this thing is HUGE! How will we get out?"

"It's easier than it looks. Besides, what could go wrong?"

Danny bumped into something. We looked up and saw a big purple monster with one eye on the center of his head.

"A cyclops?!" I turned towards Danny and hit him on the arm. "Really?! 'Oh, what could go wrong?!' Danny, you... you blockhead!"

"Hey!" Danny said, rubbing his arm. "Whatever, let's just get past this... thing."

"But how?" I asked.

Danny rolled his eyes. He went intangible and went through the cyclops.

"Oh..." I said. I did the same and we continued.

We passed many mythical creatures such as centaurs, Minotaurs, things like that.

We made it to the end of the maze and a giant yellow and white building appeared. We knocked on the door. A large green dog greeted us with its three heads, barking and gnashing its six rows of teeth. Danny and I screamed and jumped back. Fortunately, the dog was bounded back by a leash, but it still attempted to grab us with its paws.

"Cerberus! HEEL!" a woman's voice screeched.

Cerberus growled and stalked back into the building. Danny and I looked towards the door. A tall woman stepped out. She had a bronze breastplate and helmet on. Underneath, she had a long blue skirt and blue shirt. Her hair was purple and... flaming. She carried a staff.

"Who _dares_ to disturb Pandora?!" the woman said.

"Uh... down here?" I said softly.

Pandora looked down.

"Oh, it's you." Pandora said to Danny.

"Uh, hi, Ms. Pandora." Danny said. "Listen, the Box Ghost has gotten hold of your box."

"That blue ghost that screams "BEWARE" all the time?" Pandora said. "Oh, he has been a pain in the neck lately. Always trying to get my box and take over the world. I guess now he finally succeeded."

"How do we get your box away from him?" I asked.

"I'll take care of that." Pandora said, a small grin curling on her face.

"Okay, then. Let's go back to Amity Park." Danny said.

* * *

~~~AARON'S POV~~~

"Okay, it's almost been an hour! Where in the world are Danny and Sara?!" I cried, smacking away frogs that jumped at me. Sam was trying to collect spiders into a box and Tucker was running around being chased by ravenous snakes.

"I don't know," Sam said. "But I hope they get here, like, RIGHT NOW!"

I felt something tap on my shoulders, and I thought it was a frog. I spun around, spasmodically swinging my arm behind me, but Sara reached out and grabbed my wrist before it accidentally smacked her in the face.

"Did you miss us?" Danny asked.

"You have no idea..." I said as a frog leaped onto my head.

A tall woman adorned in armor with blue skin and purple flaming hair stepped next to Sara and Danny. Her eyes traced the Box Ghost as he flew around on a black Pegasus, unleashing evils from her box. Her hair crackled and sparked in anger and her eyes flared up.

"Hahaha! Pathetic mortals! You cannot defeat the awesome power of my EEEEEVIL box!" the Box Ghost said, riding around on a black Pegasus.

"Your box? YOUR box?!" Pandora cried.

"Oh, crud." the Box ghost said, his eyes becoming overwhelmed with fear at the sight of Pandora.

"That is MY box! You stole it from me!" Pandora said, smacking Box Ghost off the Pegasus. "And now, YOU WILL PAY!"

As Box Ghost was falling through the air, Pandora shot a fireball from her hair at him. Box Ghost took it hard and went crashing into a wall.

"I will now PLOT MY REVENGE!" Box Ghost said.

Pandora grabbed the back of Box Ghost's overalls and lifted him up to her face.

"You have an awful lot of cleaning up to do here, mister." she said. "And you have a LOT of apologizing to do. Both here and in the ghost zone."

Pandora lowered Box Ghost to our level. "I believe you begin with these children first."

"Ugh, fine." Box Ghost said. "Beware... my apology!"

"...Close enough." Pandora said and she flew off, dragging Box Ghost away with her.


End file.
